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In Living Color: African American Alumni Remember

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In Living Color: African American Alumni Remember

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In Living Color: African American Alumni Remember

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In Living Color: African American Alumni Remember
By Jon Marmor
There is no way to tell who was the first African American student at the UW, the first to graduate, or what it was like for black students to go to college here in the early part of the 20th century.

True, we do know that Hamilton Greene, a law student from Seattle, was the first black football player and a member of the 1924 Rose Bowl team. But prior to those years, the history of African American students at the UW has faded away, perhaps never to be found. To preserve the memories of other African American students in living color, and to give all readers an impression of the black experience at the UW, we interviewed black alumni who went here during the '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s, and '80s.

Some of what they said didn't surprise us. Sandra Kirk Roston, '66, '70, saw her first roommate move out after one quarter. Her roommate's parents didn't want their daughter rooming with a black. Larry Gossett, '71, a campus activist now serving as on the King County Council, says at the beginning, "We were invisible."

On the positive side, most black graduates told us they would send their own children to the University. Many cited encouragement from their professors as a key to continuing in school. Several returned for graduate school, and some of them later came back to their alma mater to teach, work or even become a regent.

We spoke with about two dozen alumni, faculty and staff. What follows are the stories of six alumni from different walks of life whose experiences -- good and bad -- span six decades:
Maxine Haynes
B.A. Sociology, 1941
Retired clinical nurse and nurse educator
From the time she was a little girl growing up in Seattle in the early 1920s, Maxine Haynes wanted to be a nurse. Though her family was poor because of the Great Depression, Haynes and her two sisters were destined to attend college.

"My mother always said, 'When you go to college,' " she recalls. "It was embedded in our minds." The Depression made life a constant economic struggle, but Haynes isn't bitter. "When I think back on those times in the '30s, I think they were some of the happiest times of my life," Haynes recalls. "I knew I was without and I just did without."

Economics made her decision to enroll at the UW in 1936. It was close and it had low tuition. To cover school costs, Haynes' mother made a special arrangement with the book store to get second- and third-hand textbooks for Haynes and her sisters. They also took advantage of a revolving loan fund the University had. Students borrowed their tuition fee at the beginning of the quarter, then worked to pay it off. At the beginning of the next quarter, they'd borrow it back again.

There were no more than 20 black students in the late '30s. An avid swimmer now, Haynes recalls dropping a swimming class because "no one liked us," she says. "It was as if they had never seen black people before. They didn't like me swimming in the pool. I felt so isolated and ignored. The teachers always helped the white students, but didn't pay any attention to me while I was thrashing back and forth with no help."

While Haynes felt isolated much of the time, often studying by herself and without much advising help, she does recall several successful experiences in physiology and anatomy classes. "We worked as a team dissecting a human body," she says. "There was a lot of give and take, and a lot of class participation in the labs. The teachers went out of their way and spent extra time helping and were very friendly. I didn't have any feeling of rejection or inferiority."

There were even field trips. "In anthropology, we went to an Indian reservation for a potlatch celebration. I drove and took a load of students in my dad's car to see the ceremonial dances and rituals. That was particularly fun and helpful. I learned a great deal."

Three years into her pre-nursing program, she applied to the UW nursing school. "We are not taking colored girls," she was told. Instead, she was given a list of 19 schools that did take "colored girls."

"The reception I got from the UW nursing school was very, very cold," Haynes recalls. "Unfortunately, that atmosphere was very prevalent."

She changed her major to sociology, thanks to the guidance of Robert W. O'Brien, a sociologist and UW instructor and adviser from 1938 to 1952. "He was just an outstanding person and had a particular interest in black students," Haynes recalls. "He was very helpful. He would have students out to his home, and he would come to our homes."

Haynes went on to receive her bachelor's degree in 1941, and felt "far better prepared to deal with nursing school," she says. "It provided me with maturity."

She attended the Lincoln School of Nursing in New York, and later got a master's from UCLA. During her career, she worked as a clinical nurse and then as a professor. Her first appointment, in fact, was as an assistant professor at the UW School of Nursing in 1971. How did it feel to be back at the school that snubbed her years earlier? "A lot of the people who treated me poorly were gone by then," she says. "My experiences back in the School of Nursing were OK, but there was still some racism." She left in 1976 for Seattle Pacific University, where she remained until her retirement in 1981.

Haynes and her sisters consider themselves quite fortunate. While some black students attended the UW in the '30s, few graduated. Instead they transferred to other colleges or dropped out due to family obligations, economics, marriage, relocation, poor study skills or loss of interest. "I know a lot of people who just fell by the wayside," Haynes recalls.

Though she faced blatant discrimination, she is not bitter. "I wasn't soured by what happened to me," she says. "I talk to people all the time about my experiences, and tell them they can't be bitter. You have to pass over it, and go on. I have seen too many African American people fall into the trap of blaming the white man. It isn't productive to hold on to it."
Charles Mitchell
B.A. History and education, 1965
President, Seattle Central Community College
Charles Mitchell was sitting in his sprawling office on the fourth floor of Seattle Central Community College, telling one of his favorite stories:

As a freshman at the UW, he didn't do well on his first history test. He knew the material all right: He just didn't know how to write an essay. It was quite a shock for Mitchell, a highly recruited running back out of Garfield High School who was a better-than- average student in high school. "A TA really took an interest in me and helped me," Mitchell says. "He showed me how to prepare an outline, and how to study and organize my thoughts. I never got below a B after that."

When he speaks to students at the 10,000-student campus in Capitol Hill, he tells that story as often as he can. "That TA made a difference in my life," he says. "And I want students to know that teachers care and can make a difference."

Mitchell was recruited by many schools but chose the UW because he wanted to stay close to home. He and his family came to Seattle when he was five, and his family had lived in the Central District ever since. His home was always filled with people, it seemed. A lot of black UW athletes, especially those from California and Texas, stayed at his house on 20th Avenue between Union and Pine streets.

"Since there was no real organization for blacks, no fraternities or sororities, we did our socializing outside of school," Mitchell says. "Everyone came to my house."

On campus, Mitchell studied alone, as did many African American students. "There just weren't a whole lot of us," he says. But he soon started to study with white friends at a fraternity, and it paid big dividends. "I am a better learner when I work with others," he says. "That really helped me a lot. I would also study with my teammates."

As far as being the only black student in many classes, Mitchell says, "I had very high self-esteem, and I wasn't intimidated by it." Still, he found himself a little lost at times because there was "no one to show you the ropes," he says.

"You had to learn on your own. I think that was a problem a lot of black students had. A big institution like this was very foreign to us. And you didn't want to ask a whole lot of questions because you didn't want to be looked upon as the dumb one."

When Mitchell encountered a speech teacher who was particularly disparaging toward blacks and athletes, he considered it a challenge. "This instructor told the class he had never given an athlete more than a C, or a black more than a D," Mitchell recalls. "I took it that something was wrong with him, not me."

Mitchell played football at the UW from 1960 to 1962 and went to two Rose Bowls. He was the Huskies' leading rusher in 1960 and played five years in pro football. During his time as a Husky, there were only a handful of black players on the team.

Mitchell got plenty of guidance from his parents, and from a cousin who attended WSU, the first in the family to graduate from college. "That was incredibly valuable to me," he says. "I wasn't alone."

Mitchell, whose daughter attended WSU, has a son at Seattle Central who wants to attend a black college. "There are some advantages to a black institution, where a black student can get more of a real, complete college life," he says.

"I am for education, period. It doesn't matter where, as long as you get an education. It is also important to have support of family and friends and not feel alone. I had that, and it made a difference."
Dr. Robert Flennaugh D.D.S., 1964
Seattle dentist
Robert Flennaugh sat in the office of the dean of arts and sciences in the fall of 1960, discussing his academic progress. A pre-dental student, the 23-year-old son of a farmworker had come to the UW after spending two years at the University of Alaska. The UW appealed to him because it had a dental school, the closest one to his Fairbanks home.

At the time, the UW was trying to recruit minority students for the dental school. When the dean saw Flennaugh's academic records, he said to himself, "We have one I think can make it." There was reason for his joy: The only black dental student prior to Flennaugh didn't graduate.

Flennaugh was in the right place. Born in California, Flennaugh and his family moved to Alaska when he was 15. His was one of a handful of black families in Fairbanks, though it didn't bother him. At Fairbanks High School, he was elected president of the senior class, something that gave him great confidence in his leadership abilities. "I knew I could do what I set my mind to," he says.

So he set his mind to dental school. Though he was the only black student in his three years of pre-dental studies and his two years of dental school, he found he was treated very well. "I remember getting a low grade on a test, and I got calls from lots of professors," Flennaugh says. "Everyone encouraged me to stick with it."

The oldest of six children, Flennaugh says his biggest worry during school was money. His parents divorced while he was in college. He needed loans and worked all the time. He toiled in Terry- Lander during school, washing dishes and waxing floors during spring break, and took summer construction jobs in Alaska.

Flennaugh was a trail blazer, but didn't pay much attention to that. "I was focused on getting my education," he says. "Sure, I had no role models. I had never seen a black dentist. But the lack of role models didn't bother concern me. The lack of black students did, though. I know there was racism, but none of it was aimed at me. Everyone I dealt with at the school was helpful and friendly. There was never any tension in the dental school."

In 1964, Flennaugh became the first black to graduate from the UW School of Dentistry, and after graduation, opened his First Hill private practice. Four years later, he joined the UW dental faculty. He later became the first African American appointed to the UW Board of Regents, where he served from 1970-1976.

His close ties continue. Flennaugh sent both his sons to the UW (one is an aeronautical engineer, the other a lawyer), and he continues to help the dental school recruit more minority students. "We do need to reach out more to attract students," he says.

Sandra Kirk Roston
B.A. Health Education, 1966, M.S.W., 1970
Counselor, Shoreline Community College

There was talk that Sandra Kirk Roston would not be allowed to attend Enumclaw Junior High School in 1954 because she was black. Her mother spent a lot of time lobbying the principal on her behalf. That same year, as the Supreme Court made its famous Brown vs. Board of Education decision banning school segregation, she got to go.

Hers was the only black family in the rural community of Black Diamond, and she and her two younger brothers were the only blacks at their elementary, junior and senior high schools. "That made the transition to the UW less hectic for me," says Roston.

What made the transition even smoother was other African Americans. Before she arrived at the UW, she had a nucleus of friends in Seattle through the Rhinestone Club, an African American woman's club, and at Seattle's traditionally black high schools, Garfield and Franklin.

Roston was a strong student who loved school, thanks in large part to her parents, who knew the value of an education. Her father, a Boeing riveter with a ninth grade education, and her mother, a community organizer with a high school degree, always encouraged her.

At the UW, she admits to feeling isolated. "I didn't have any African American classmates until I was a junior or senior," she says. "The first time I had a professor of color was in graduate school." And after just one quarter, her roommate left because Roston was black, a move that didn't really surprise her but hurt her feelings nonetheless.

In the late '50s the UW had no Black Student Union, no Educational Opportunity Program, and no organized activities for black students. "No role models, either," she says. But she developed social networks with the other African American students. "There were so few of us, we all knew each other," she says. "Since there was no place or person to turn to for academic difficulty, we relied on each other. We would meet and figure things out."

Roston went to school for two years, then took a break in the early '60s when she got married and had a son. Working as a counselor at Martha Washington School in Seward Park, she was inspired by the school's director of social services to get a master's in social work.

Graduate school was a much better experience for Roston because there was an emphasis on black studies, and there were several African American faculty -- James Anderson, James Leigh, Ida Chambliss and Allethia Allen. "We were looking at multiculturalism, and it was the highlight of my education," she says. "I like to think we were ahead of our time. The classes were smaller, the students more diverse, people focused on the same goal, and we worked together. Dr. Leigh even held get 'togethers' for African American students. We felt a part of something."

If she had to do it all over again, Roston says she would have liked to attend a black college if she could have afforded it. "To have role models, and people who care about you is essential," she says. "Prestige brings a lot of people to the UW. But in my experience, I didn't need prestige. I would send my children to the UW, but I would also consider a black college. I feel they could get nurturing that I never got."

Ralph Bayard
B.A., 1971, M.A., 1975, Communications
UW Senior Associate Athletic Director

Ralph Bayard was crossing the footbridge from Hec Edmundson Pavilion to campus when he heard the frightful news that Halloween day in 1969: He was suspended from the football team. He was accused of not being "100 percent committed" to the team. Indicative of the problems enveloping the team, Bayard learned the news from someone crossing the bridge, who had heard it over the radio. He wasn't told in person until the next day.

"Talk about a nightmare," says Bayard. "It was incredible."

Actually, the nightmare -- which was shared by the 12 other black players on the1969 football team -- had its roots in the athletic department well before that Halloween day. The team had its share of racial problems before Bayard arrived at the UW as a 19-year-old wide receiver from San Francisco City College. In fact, before he came, Bayard was warned about discrimination such as the lack of playing time.

Bayard wasn't fazed. He liked Seattle, and he also knew similar problems existed just about everywhere. He also knew the UW had a black assistant coach, Carver Gayton.

But 1969 was a disaster. The team's 13 black players bristled at being treated unfairly, especially through "stacking," where most were forced to play the same position -- right halfback -- and compete against each other for rare playing time. "It was blatantly obvious what was going on," Bayard says. "We had some excellent talent and we were not getting the chance. It made no sense, especially because of the way we were losing." The Huskies were at 0-6 at the end of October.

The black players wanted to meet to discuss the situation, but word somehow got back to the staff. Coach Jim Owens, afraid of a disruptive situation, responded with an unprecedented move -- he assembled all 100 players on the Husky Stadium field, approached each player, and asked what their commitment to the football program was.

Unhappy with their answers, Owens suspended Bayard and three other black players -- Greg Alex, Lamar Mills and Harvey Blanks. The incident caused a firestorm of outrage on campus, and gained nationwide news coverage.

"The perception was that we couldn't give 100 percent to the program, which was totally erroneous," says Bayard, the only starter of the four. "Being a student athlete was like holding down two full-time jobs. Besides, we were risking bodily injury six days a week playing football. For someone to think we weren't committed was ridiculous."

The other black players boycotted the team's upcoming game at UCLA. Three of the four players (except Blanks, labeled the biggest "troublemaker") were reinstated for the last two games of the season. In the finale against WSU, "We put all our frustration and anger into that game," says Bayard, who scored two touchdowns in a 30-21 victory that was the Huskies' only win all year. They finished 1-9.

The suspensions and subsequent boycott had a chilling effect the following year, Bayard's senior season. Gayton, the black assistant coach, left. "Stacking" black players at the same position happened again, and some highly recruited black players left. This time Bayard and the others kept quiet. Some of the tension from the previous year was gone, though, thanks to the Huskies' successful season (6-4) that brought them within a victory of making the Rose Bowl. But it was a strange season.

"It felt like nothing much changed in 1970," Bayard says. "It was almost as if 1969 never happened. I decided to keep quiet and try to deal with it."

Fortunately, the lessons of 1969 have been learned. Bayard appreciates the many changes that have been made, including the hiring of three blacks in the athletic department administration, the establishment of tutoring programs, and the hiring of coaches like Don James and Jim Lambright.

Though he was stung personally, the football team's turmoil didn't sour Bayard on the UW. After graduating with his B.A. in 1971, he came back to the UW for his master's degree. "This is a great institution, and to be able to receive a degree from the UW is a great accomplishment," says Bayard, who says he would send his two children here.

Bayard returned to in the athletic department in 1993 as its chief compliance officer. "I bring a different perspective," says Bayard, who worked as a radio news editor and then spent 16 years with the Washington State High School Athletic Association. "I don't know if the students of today realize what happened before. I am here as a result of what went wrong before. What I went through is something you never forget."

La-Gina Simmons
B.A. English, 1988
Receptionist, WSU Cooperative Extension

Born and raised in Tacoma, La-Gina Simmons found the UW to be a completely different world. She'd never been away from home before. She didn't know anyone, and after unpacking her bags at Haggett Hall, she turned around and went home. But she changed her mind the next day and returned.

She picked up a campus map and a catalogue, found out where her classes were and began to feel at ease. She felt even better when she ran into people from Tacoma high schools on the UW campus.

Very close to her mother, she used to ride three buses home every weekend during her freshman year. "I'd go to class, study and then go home on weekends," says Simmons.

During her sophomore year, Simmons became close friends with a roommate from the tiny southern Washington town of Stevenson, and they "hung out" together all the time. Finally feeling comfortable in Seattle, she and her roommate did everything, from going to class to attending basketball games to finding where the best shopping spots were.

She also got very busy. A tireless worker, Simmons landed a job her junior year as a file clerk in an administrative office. She had a full load of classes during the day and worked from 4 p.m. to midnight five nights a week. "Between that and my boyfriend, I had no time for anything else," she says. "I was still going home on weekends to see my mom, too."

The second person in her family to graduate from college, Simmons always loved to read, and was encouraged by her mother. "When I was in school, I knew I had to stick it out no matter how difficult it was," Simmons says. "It meant a lot to me to finish and get my degree."

Being able to finish was quite a feat, considering that during Simmons' time at the UW, her mother was laid off and lost her house, her car and many other belongings. "My mom worked all her life," Simmons says. "But never once during the tough times did we go on welfare or public assistance. A lot of people I went to high school with in Tacoma now have kids and are on welfare, and I was determined not to let myself go through the same thing. I have worked since I was 17 years old, and I always admired my mom for what she did. She was my inspiration."

She always had lots of white friends growing up, and that was a good preparation for the UW, given that "there weren't a lot of blacks in class," she says. "But everyone was really friendly and willing to help.

"Most of my friends were white, from different towns. What was interesting was they were curious about me. They asked lots of questions about my culture and style, where I came from, about my hair, if I could them to dance like a black person. Even though they were racial questions, it made me feel as though they wanted to understand me. I liked it."

Her only negative UW experience was in a few large lecture classes, where she felt the teachers were lecturing in a way black students could not quite understand. "Once I got in smaller, upper division classes, I felt like we were on an even playing field," says Simmons.

She has particularly fond recollections of her relationship with her EOP counselor, Tony Shedrick, with whom she met at least four times each quarter.

"There were times when I'd get down because of my class load, or if an exam didn't go well, or if I didn't like a class. He gave me lots of guidance, and keep me working with a positive attitude. I could always go to him and talk about school, or my family. He was always there."

Still, there are times when Simmons wishes she could have spent two years at a black college. "I am very strong headed, and no one can tell me I can't do anything. I have worked hard to get to this point, and my goal is to get into management one day. My time at the UW was a very good experience and a lot of fun. It is a very good school. I sure learned a lot, and I'd do it again. But now and then I kind of wish I'd had the experience of attending a black school for part of the time."

It's obvious she has fond feelings for the years she spent at the UW. "I always look at my degree, and feel proud," she says, beaming. She's not afraid to show that pride where she works, even though the sign on the door mentions WSU. "I even brought it into the office to show everyone."

Jon Marmor is associate editor of Columns.
Send a letter to the editor at columns@u.washington.edu.

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In Living Color: African American Alumni Remember

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There is no way to tell who was the first African American student at the UW, the first to graduate, or what it was like for black students to go to college here in the early part of the 20th century.

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A Guide to Jimi Hendrix's Seattle - The Clipboard of Fun

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Where It All Began Realizing after I'd recently read Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix , I was taking for granted how cool it is that I live in the same city where Jimi Hendrix grew up; This is the same town where a young James Marshall Hendrix spent the first 1

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Everyday Heroes: Bertha Cain Baugh's legacy lives on with new Vancouver homeless shelter

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This week's Everyday Hero is a woman whose past contributions to the Black community on both sides of the river are still being recognized today. Bertha Cain Baugh was a pioneer in the Vancouver/Portland area for members of the African-American community. She was a teacher, an activist, and a fighter for equal rights up until the day she died.

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Honoring African American Leaders in the Northwest

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Honoring African American Leaders in the Northwest

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To celebrate Black History Month, we recognize the accomplishments of nine leaders and role models from the Pacific Northwest connected to our public schools, higher education and the development of young people.

This year, we honor Akeema Wignall; Curtis Wilson, Jr.; Dr. Damien Pattenaude; Joyce Harris; Kia Addison; Lyla Brown; Melissa Lowery; Muhammad A. Rahman; and Murray Pierce. We asked them to share a few thoughts on topics ranging from their role models, what schools can do better and how African American history has enriched them.

Akeema Wignall

Akeema Wignall is a senior at Idaho State University and the current president of Black Student Association and the Women of Color Association-groups that are striving to create a safe place for minorities to have a voice and be heard.

"I have a deep appreciation for my culture whether it be in American, Caribbean or African," she says. "In the end, there is always something that pulls my back to my roots."

"One criticism I have of American schools is that when minority students are trying to find authenticity about our history at a young age, the "truth" we are told is from the perspective of people who try to marginalize and dominate us." -Akeema Wignall

Curtis Wilson, Jr.

Curtis Wilson, Jr. has been married for 24 years to his wife Yushonna and has two boys. He attended Roosevelt High School in Portland and the University of Oregon. He is currently the principal at Portland's Benson Polytechnic High School and the 2018 Oregon Principal of the Year.

"I am proud of all African Americans have accomplished for this country," he says, "and I believe that I am setting a huge example for the students in my building who can look at me as a role model and support mechanism for them here at Benson Tech."

"My role model is Dan Malone, one of my most trusted teachers in high school. He was a social studies teacher and track coach at Roosevelt high school and has been part of my life for 35 years. Mr. Malone gave me the opportunity to understand how valuable education was to myself and my family." -Curtis Wilson, Jr.

From the Portland Tribune: High school principal of the year Curtis Wilson wants focus on kids, not him
Dr. Damien Pattenaude

Dr. Damien Pattenaude is superintendent of Renton School District in Washington. He grew up attending Renton schools and has served as a teacher and administrator in Renton. His work in the district has always been in service of improving student achievement for all children.

"I know it might be cliché but my parents have been my greatest role models," he says. "They taught me how to be a man, husband, and father. Additionally, they stressed the importance of service and community."

"All of us privileged to serve children in our public schools can continue to find ways to help students find their passions and pursue their dreams. No matter one's role-teacher, custodian, paraprofessional, superintendent, etc.-each of us can play a part in removing barriers and supporting our students." -Dr. Damien Pattenaude

From the Seattle Times: Damien Pattenaude had a quick rise to the top of Renton schools ... but also a long journey
Joyce Harris

Joyce Harris is an educator and community activist who serves as a manager with a focus on community engagement at Education Northwest. She has won numerous awards over a career that has been defined by her professional (and personal) work in making connections and meeting the needs of communities and educators.

"My role model was Dr. Ethel Simon-McWilliams," she says. "As CEO of an education research organization, she was a leader in a field where you don't see many black women, and she was courageous in advocating to ensure that African American children and all children are treated equitably in their education. She influenced me and encouraged me in my career, and I hope that I am able to pass along what I learned from her to the younger women and men who I work with today."

"I'd like to see schools become more proactive in including black history in their curriculum and social environments. Black students need to see historic role models, particularly in areas like STEM. It's like the saying goes, 'If you can see it, you can be it.' Schools should celebrate and widen their viewpoints on what African Americans and Africans have contributed to the world." -Joyce Harris

From Portland State University and the Black United Front Oral History Project: An Interview with Joyce Harris
Kia Addison

Kia Addison is an undergraduate at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, studying the English language. "I've been an intern at Literary Arts, president of Black Student Union at Pacific and other things-but really, I'd like to be known as a writer, sister, speaker and a daughter," she says.

"African American history has enriched me the same way that reading Gandhi sparked seeds of passive resistance in Rustin Bayard or learning from Socrates inspired deeper contemplation in Plato. I realized that people like me fought for centuries for me to be here, and that if I fight just as hard, in my own way, thousands more can get further than I ever could." -Kia Addison

From Pacific University: Kia Addison '20 Seeks Truth in Writing
Lyla Brown

Lyla Brown started the Black Student Union at Montana State University last year and has been serving as the president ever since. She is a junior studying psychology and sociology with a focus on criminology. She hopes to go to graduate school in public policy or law.

"One of my biggest role models is my mom," she says. "She instilled the values of hard work and determination in me from a young age. She is constantly challenging me to grow into a better version of myself, and I owe her so much."

"I think that our schools can do better to integrate black history into the curriculum that is taught throughout the year. Black history is American history and having children of color see the accomplishments of other people of color iis so important-because I did not learn enough black history in school!" -Lyla Brown

Melissa Lowery

Melissa Lowery is a filmmaker and homegrown Oregonian who grew up in West Linn. Black Girl In Suburbia is her first feature documentary based off of her experiences growing up as one of very few kids of color in her area. She is currently working at Jesuit High School as the director of diversity and inclusion.

"I understood and connected quickly with the history of black people in this country not through school, but through generations of my family experiences, storytelling, struggle and resilience," she says. "African American history is a part of me and who I am. It is hard for it not to be."

"For me a role model is an imperfect person that encompasses qualities, values and talents that are worthy of respect and acknowledgement. The role models I have looked up to my whole life include family members, teachers and Civil Rights activists. All folks who lit a flame in my belly and gave me the courage and strength to live my best life and be the best me I can be!" -Melissa Lowery

Muhammad A. Rahman

Muhammad A. Rahman is a teacher and change agent at Floyd Light Middle School in Portland's David Douglas School District. He currently teaches eighth-grade history and math.

"African American History has been a part of me since I was born," he says. "It's like having a super power. I have a multi-faceted lens by which I see history that impacts how I teach history to my kids. African American History is U.S. History, and I treat it as such."

"Schools can do many things better. Understanding implicit bias in our thinking and teaching can pay huge dividends in regards to empathy and culturally responsive practices in our curriculum and discipline. The foundation-the underlying premise of school and the teaching profession-is in need of reimagination that takes these ideas into account." -Muhammad A. Rahman

Murray Pierce

Murray Pierce presently serves in the joint role of Special Assistant to the Vice Provost for Student Success and Administrative Representative to the Black Student Union at his alma mater, the University of Montana. For several decades, he has worked in areas centered on exploring, developing, and promulgating issues of diversity, inclusion, cultural competency and identity development for adolescents and young adults.

"My most significant role model was my father," he says. "He demonstrated daily the importance of starting a task and finishing it to the best of your ability. Most critical to me, he and my mother emphasized the importance of education and giving back to the community."

"We have moved the dial in several areas of concern relative to the learning experience for all students. However, we are in dire need of expanding our ability to teach diversity and inclusion and its impact beyond the campuses. We need to concentrate greater effort on diffusing cultural stereotypes, deconstructing racism, teaching tolerance and promoting intercultural understanding-invaluable tools directly related to retention. We need to embed these concepts in the fabric of our academic institutions as they are central in providing a holistic education experience. Once learned, these developed skill sets will also express their utility long after students have moved beyond our campuses." -Murray Pierce

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Honoring African American Leaders in the Northwest

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To celebrate Black History Month, we recognize the accomplishments of nine leaders and role models from the Pacific Northwest connected to our public schools, higher education and the development of young people. This year, we honor Akeema Wignall; Curtis Wilson, Jr.; Dr. Damien Pattenaude; Joyce Harris; Kia Addison; Lyla Brown; Melissa Lowery; Muhammad A.

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State of Oregon: Black in Oregon - Rose and John Jackson

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The official website of the Oregon Secretary of State

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Boeing: Celebrating Black History & Working Toward Racial Equity 

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Boeing: Celebrating Black History & Working Toward Racial Equity 

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Boeing recognizes Black history and works with employees to develop an inclusive culture that celebrates the strength that comes from diversity.

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Slides: Women in Seattle's Civil Rights Movements

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Slides: Women in Seattle's Civil Rights Movements

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Seattle's female civil rights activists have unique stories. As people of color, they battled racial discrimination. As women, they battled sex discrimination. The intersection of these two fights sometimes pitted women of color against those who should have been allies. This slide show explores female activists' particular experiences in Seattle's civil rights movements. It features video oral history excerpts from interviews with female activists from different civil rights movements.

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Slides: Women in Seattle's Civil Rights Movements

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Seattle's female civil rights activists have unique stories. As people of color, they battled racial discrimination. As women, they battled sex discrimination. The intersection of these two fights sometimes pitted women of color against those who should have been allies. This slide show explores female activists' particular experiences in Seattle's civil rights movements.

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Black Longshoreman: The Frank Jenkins Story - Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project

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Black Longshoreman: The Frank Jenkins Story - Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project

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The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has a long history of progressive racial policies, as did its predecessor, the International Longshoreman's Association (ILA). In 1918, the ILA opened its ranks to men of any race. The gesture did not put an end to discrimination, and the union remained mostly white, but at a time when most unions explicitly excluded nonwhites, it was a significant step. When the ILWU broke away from the ILA and joined the CIO in 1937, it took further steps to include workers of color. But the ILWU was not always as color-blind as it was supposed to be. Racism can't be written away in a contract, but requires cultural work and visionary leadership. One man who mixed union leadership with civil rights activism in the ILWU was Frank Jenkins. A second-generation longshoreman, Jenkins became one of first African Americans to hold a leadership position in that important union.

As late as the 1940s, blacks were explicitly barred from most unions. On the West Coast, the major ship-building union, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders had a constitution that allowed only whites to be union members. 1 In December, 1943, the Fair Employment Practices Commission ordered the Boilermakers to abolish their white-only clause. 2 At the same time, black ship builders filed suit in the federal court of California against the Boilermakers union and other discriminatory companies. The California Supreme Court ruled in favor of the black workers arguing that a union's "asserted rights to choose its own members does not merely relate to social relations; it affects the fundamental right to work for a living." 3 This was something the ILA had understood decades before the Boilermakers and other white-only unions were forced to open their unions to everyone.

When The Dispatcher - the ILWU's newspaper - ran an obituary of prominent African-American union member Frank Jenkins in April, 1973, it honored Jenkins's four decades of activist leadership. The paper cited Jenkins's longtime commitment to racial equality in a way that made him not just a civil rights activist, but a true "labor veteran." 4 Although many details of Jenkins's life are uncertain, this biography seeks to use what records are available to the public preserve our memory of Frank Jenkins as an important Pacific Northwest civil rights activist as well as union leader.

Researching Frank Jenkins was a complicated, yet rewarding task. Information is incomplete and sometimes very difficult to locate. The main point of reference for Jenkins's life came from a tape recorded interview by Richard C. Berner in 1972. Invented vocabulary was part of Jenkins's charm. In his interview, he used the term "whitelisted" instead of blacklisted when describing what often happened to unwanted workers. 5 When questioned by the interviewer, Jenkins is quick to respond that the two are the same and continues telling his story. Listening to the interview with Jenkins was mesmerizing. He had a very deep and booming voice that grabs your attention and keeps it. His attention to detail in the account of his life is very impressive, especially when recalling the addresses of present and past hiring halls in Seattle.

While the interview was helpful in getting to know Jenkins's personality, it left many holes in both his personal life and his career on the waterfront. Additional help came from historian Ronald Magden, author of two books about Puget Sound longshore workers, who knew Jenkins and helped fill in the details about his role in the union. An interview with Frank's younger brother Andy also contributed to Frank's lesser known years. In our conversation about Jenkins, Magden and I decided that Jenkins would have been a very difficult man to interview. He was so humble that he was unlikely to want to talk about himself for an extended period of time. 6 But over thirty years after his death, the ideals that Frank Jenkins stood for, and a glimpse at why he stood for them, deserve attention that he may not have brought to them himself.

Frank Jenkins was born in 1902 in Monterey, California at what is now Fort Ord. His three siblings were born on Army bases all over the United States and Philippines. In 1909, Jenkins, his mother, his older sister Frances, and his younger brothers Edward and Andrew settled at Fort Lawton in Seattle while his father completed his last six months as a commissioned soldier in Honolulu, Hawaii. Although there is little information on Frank's earlier years, it seems that his military upbringing set a tone for how he would live his life. He was persistent, hardworking, and willing to fight for his country, even though that would later cause him much grief.

Frank's father joined the United States Army at a young age and served in both the 9th and 10th Cavalries during the Spanish American War in Cuba. He was in the unit that took Teddy Roosevelt off San Juan Hill. Frank grew up hearing that "Colonel Roosevelt," as his father called him, had a soft spot for black people and especially the black soldier. 7 His father would become a role model to Frank as an example of an African-American man leading a successful and rewarding life. Frank's mother, who was a military child herself and a native of the Philippines, also set an impressive standard for her children. In the years approaching the Civil Rights Movement, Mrs. Jenkins involved herself in every social justice cause in Seattle and was quite a forward thinker for her time. 8 Both Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins would have an influence on Frank's life. Despite the proximity to and the honor they attached to the military, Frank's parents had a different type of life in mind for him.

Jenkins's parents never completed high school and were adamant that he graduate and continue with higher education. His mother had her heart set on the field of law for her eldest son but Jenkins had his own thoughts on the matter. In his early teens though, his parents had the final say in his education and so he and his sister progressed to Queen Anne High School after graduating from Fort Lawton Grammar School. 9 In his 1972 interview, Frank noted that while attending Queen Anne High School, although he and his sister were "discriminated against quite sharply," they acquired "extensive fistic ability" which spread the word that the Jenkins kids were not to be fooled with. 10 "Fistic ability" is a term that Jenkins himself invented.

Jenkins began work on the waterfront beginning roughly in 1918. Jenkins dropped out of Queen Anne High School after his sophomore year even after his parents discouraged him from it. In his interview, he insists that racism had nothing to do with his decision - it was simply because he thought he knew everything he had to learn from school. The decision would be life-altering, to the point where his familiarity with the waterfront-its business, its people, and its politics-became almost second nature. Years later, Jenkins recalled with ease the locations of present and past hiring halls in Seattle, including old pier numbers, which have changed several times over the course of the waterfront's history.

Jenkins's decision to drop out of school may have been informed by previous work experience he found through his father's assistance. After retiring from the Army, Frank's father became a foreman for an oil importer named Griffiths and Sprague Stevedoring Company, which gave him some authority over the workers on the dock. During the 1910's, trade from China and Japan made Seattle a major Pacific Coast port. 11 While Asian shipping companies exported oils, teas, and silk to the United States, goods such as cotton, lumber, grains, and machinery crossed the Pacific from Seattle to major Asian ports. 12

The summer before Jenkins dropped out of school, his father gave him a job on the company dock. Jenkins recalled working with Mexicans, African-Americans, and Scandinavians as well as other white ethnics that summer. Following a bitter strike in 1916 during which employers brought in 3-400 African American strikebreakers (out of a total of 1400) mainly from Kansas City, St. Louis, and New Orleans, the International Longshoremen's Association had grudgingly accepted people of color into its ranks. One scholar noted that

efforts to discriminate against Negroes were frequent during the early years of their participation in [Seattle] longshore activities. Many white workers who had never worked with Negro longshoremen previous to this time refused to do so and left their jobs... During the wartime boom, Negroes took an active part in formulate the policies of the union. Mainly through the cooperation of members of the I.W.W., Negroes were elected to many of the important committees. As work on the waterfront slackend many Negroes were unemployed. Their membership in the ILA gradually decreased due to this lack of work and the inability to pay dues. 13

Jenkins experienced both the positive and negative aspects of this period of intense labor conflict on Seattle's waterfront. His first exposure to racial discrimination in the labor force was during World War I. Local shipyards in Seattle frequently offered young men positions as riveters and bolter-uppers at very respectable wages. Jenkins claims that racial discrimination made the task of getting such a job difficult but he triumphed in the end, sometimes resorting to "subterfuge" to overcome the barriers against him. 14 He treated being turned down as only a minor set back and not a permanent defeat.

In 1921, local African American real estate dealer James H. Roston worked with the Pacific Steamship company to find African Americans employment as strike breaking stewards on the company's Alaska line. It's unclear whether Jenkins worked as a steward in this dispute, but he did work in Alaska that summer. 15

Regardless, the Seattle Jenkins returned to 1921 was a much different place than the one he first began working in in 1918. The power of Seattle's longshore union had been dramatically reduced by cuts in shipbuilding employment and intense anti-radical campaigns following the General Strike in 1919. Consequently, the union lost its control of waterfront hiring halls, which meant disaster for the union but also "opened the books" to workers regardless of race, religious creed, or political views If the union workers could successfully bring these men into the union, the employers would have a difficult time of finding scabs to work during a strike. Frank's father urged all of the men working under him to join the ILA, which they did, including young Jenkins. The ILA's new "open book" policy theoretically gave all men equal opportunity in the union, but in practice, the system remained biased-abused by union members and employers alike. Local hiring halls engaged in favoritism: Some workers got more work than others, and company control of some hiring halls made it difficult to guarantee steady employment, especially for blacks. Frank Jenkins recalled that "some people would sit on the bench [in a hiring hall] from four days to a week or more without a job. Other people who were favored would come in from one job and go right back out to another." 16 In addition, Jenkins noted, several hiring halls were "lily white," that is, you would never find any blacks working out of them. The only halls that hired blacks were the non-union "Fink Halls", bit they too often engaged in favoritism.

Both black and white worker frustration over this system peaked February 1934, when selected delegates from the different unions on the Pacific Coast demanded a "single, coast wide contract, creation of a union-controlled hiring hall, $1.00 per hour straight time, the six hour day, and the thirty hour week." 17 They decided to strike if their employers did not meet the terms. After negotiations between the ILA and the Waterfront Employers Association (WEA) failed to reach a solution, all of the ILA locals on the Pacific Coast struck against their employers on May 9, 1934. Twelve thousand men did not go to work and only about 100 men crossed the picket lines to their jobs. In Seattle, only three men continued to work. Many other unions in Seattle offered their support by joining the strike including the Seamen, Marine Firemen, Masters, Mates, and Pilots, and the Marine Cooks and Stewards.

Jenkins's participation in the 1934 strike is not well documented and although it is certain that he was not a major leader among the strikers, his experience on the waterfront made him a high profile worker and many men followed his example. His younger brother Andrew was one of these men. In a 1987 interview, Andy recalled several incidents during the strike in which he was following his brother and suddenly they found themselves in the thick of the fight at the picket lines. Both Frank (age 32 at the time) and Andy (age 27) were in the union and it seems that Frank was often looking out for him. Frank Jenkins's reputation on the waterfront, and his concern for his younger brother, are evident in the following scenario:

[There was] a gauntlet at Pier 2 Alaska Steam. Some of the scabs [strike breakers] jumped overboard, but the rest of the scabs had to walk through a longshoremen's gauntlet up to Western Avenue. I was standing there. Just a kid. A nobody. This guy that I was standing behind [...] was a longshoreman. All of a sudden he jumped up and ran among the scabs, grabbed one guy and started beating the hell out of him. He grabbed these knucks [brass knuckles] from the hand of the scab and turned to me. "You're Frank's brother aren't you? Beat it!" 18

In the violence that erupted that day, Frank's reputation and popularity kept Andrew out of harm and Andy's appreciation shows in his interview where he is always quick to describe his brother as a "star" or throw him another complement. 19 Being caught by the police with a weapon such as brass knuckles usually led to arrest. Small pockets of violence, such as this one, broke out daily on the waterfront during the 1934 strike.

In June of 1934, the consequences of the strike were beginning to have major implications on the welfare of residents in Alaska, although it was never the intent of the strikers to harm the general public. The closure of Pacific ports meant that Alaska was short on imported food. Seattle's newly appointed mayor, Charles L. Smith, realized the seriousness of the situation and promised to stop supporting non-Alaska shippers once the Longshoremen released the cargoes to Alaska. The "Alaska Agreement" allowed union longshoremen to work on ships containing goods for Alaska. The Alaska Steamship Operators vowed only to hire ILA members as a show of gratitude.

One month later, the Waterfront Employers Association notified the union that it would arbitrate all issues on a coast wide basis. On July 31, 1934, the Pacific longshoremen returned to work. The union eventually won increased wages from eighty-five cents per hour to ninety-five cents per hour and the thirty-hour workweek. Although the hiring halls were still open to non-union men, everyone would have to pay the same fee to utilize the halls and all of the dispatchers would be required to be union members and would be appointed by the ILA.

The victory for the ILA in 1934 came in no small part through racial solidarity between white and black workers, and gave African-American activists important institutional resources from which to promote racial justice as a labor and class issue and not just a civil rights issue. Frank Jenkins recalled that following the strike, the waterfront employers treated everybody "fair and square" regardless of race. He also noted that the union had become much more democratic: finally, everyone had an equal voice and could vote. 20

This experience helped Frank see labor unions as important civil rights advocates, with ILWU founder and president Harry Bridges standing out to him as a "civil rights man" with an impressive record worth mentioning in the same breath as Martin Luther King Jr. 21 With the shift of waterfront workers from the ILA to the ILWU, the election of Bridges as President, and the improved wages and hours in the union, Frank said waterfront work "went from darkness to sunshine." 22 Even the applications to join the union did not include race: "all it [had was] your name and address and your experience." 23
Jenkins's Role in the ILWU
Jenkins seized the opportunities provided by the new racial attitudes within the union by becoming involved with the ILWU Local 19 Executive Board. He held positions of "official capacity" in the union from 1936 to 1940 and from 1943 until his retirement in 1967. 24 The Dispatcher recorded that he was on the Labor Relations committee in 1947. 25

Frank's work on the Labor Relations Committee included gathering port working rules from the various local unions and coordinating them with the Coast Labor Relations Committee in San Francisco. This committee was extremely important to the union because each port along the Pacific Coast had different operating rules, based on what type of cargo they dealt with. While ports such as Seattle and San Francisco dealt mainly with large container ships, smaller ports like Anacortes and Port Angeles handled lumber and other natural products. Keeping all of the ports in good review with the Coast Labor Relations Committee was a very important. Frank supposedly had an encyclopedic knowledge of the agreements between the union and other associations such as the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the Labor Relations Committee (LRC). 26 When the Jenkins estate donated Frank's papers to the University of Washington Libraries, various labor law handbooks and the ILWU constitution were all well worn and some had coffee stains on them, suggesting that Jenkins not only read them but perhaps even regularly carried them around. 27

As a Local 19 leader, Frank worked alongside Martin Jugum, a longtime Executive Board member, on all negotiations that concerned the ILWU. This included making sure that the men of Local 19 had the best health benefits available to them, and that they were working in the most efficient methods possible. It also required deciding how to reshape the workforce once machinery was introduced and required changing safety regulations to fit the newer technology. Jugum and Jenkins attended caucuses together in San Francisco and helped to prevent disturbances on the waterfront that could possibly lead to a strike or detriment the workers in anyway. Frank Jenkins and Martin Jugum worked as a team. Jenkins knew the facts and issues, Jugum did the negotiating. According to Ron Magden,

[Frank's] greatness on [the Labor Relations Committee] was the continuity he had. He'd been on that committee since he began on the waterfront and so he knew the contract backwards and forwards. Jugum was a better speaker, but Jenkins had the knowledge. Jugum was sort of a smooth it over type of guy, Frank was more of a straight forward 'here's what we want, now you tell us how far you can go to meeting that.' That would be the Frank Jenkins approach. 28

The two worked together very successfully for many years. One of the duo's most remarkable victories was instituting a rotation system. The system allowed for all men to avoid playing into a self-defeating favoritism and instead each receive an equal amount of work. Jenkins was especially adamant that this system replace the old system of steady men. With the old system, racism often played a part in whether a worker could get a job or not. It was especially hard for minorities to find work when companies kept hiring the "steady men." Jenkins believed that if the old system was kept, blacks would always be left out and would certainly suffer the most.

Jenkins worked to promote anti-racist practices in his union, but found his experience and leadership were not always acknowledged by the broader society. When World War II began, the Army used longshoremen along the entire Pacific Coast to load their vessels. At this time, Frank had a 1-A classification, which granted him access to most of the waterfront, including high-security areas. He was asked by a second lieutenant in the Army if he would be a hatch tender or a winch driver on one of the ships but Jenkins wanted to do more for his country - he wanted to be in the Army and experience the things that he grew up hearing his father talk about. Frank remembered that at the recruiting office, an Army official told him that

[the Army] wanted people who had experience in loading vessels and handling ship's gear and so forth. The sergeant at the desk had to go back into the inner office to talk to a lieutenant and when he came [back] he said he wanted people experienced as winch drivers, riggers, hatch tenders and so forth. I said, 'That's me." You go back and see the lieutenant. He [the sergeant] came by and said we want them with quite a bit of experience. I told him that I had over twenty years. He went back to the lieutenant again, but the lieutenant would not come out of the office. When he came back, I told him, 'hold it. Let's quit fencing.' He said, 'Ok, you know what the problem is?' I said, 'Yes, my color is against me.' He said, That's right.' I said, 'Why doesn't that guy come out and tell me?' He said because he has got me to come out and tell you and it's embarrassing the hell out of me. I said, 'Forget about it. Don't feel embarrassed.' The sergeant said to watch the papers and maybe a position would open up later. 29

Frank told the sergeant as he walked out the door to watch the papers himself.

Jenkins did not give up, however. If the Army would not let him in, maybe the Navy would. Thus, he attended a Navy recruiting drive where he personally knew one of the warrant officers doing special recruiting from within the union. As Frank approached him, the warrant officer threw up his hands and said, "There's no place for you. Don't ask me any questions. Those are my orders. No place for you here because you haven't got the right ethnic background." 30 Frank's patriotism hit rock bottom at this point. The Army and Navy had turned him down. He had grown up on Army bases all over the country, his father and grandfather had been soldiers, and he had more experience than most of the other men being recruited. Rejection from the armed forces would long remain a part of how Frank understood the country he lived in. Thirty years after being rejected, Frank offered bitter descriptions of his several attempts to join the military.

In 1955, a similar event would again raise Frank's ire. This time however, he would appeal to the courts and win. On July 15, 1955, Jenkins's Coast Guard pass was taken from him immediately after he testified at the Harry Bridges trial. 31 The Red Scare was in full force and many union men were accused of being communist. Without evidence, authorities could revoke any type of security or clearance pass from a union man accused of communism. Coast Guard representatives claimed they had been looking for Jenkins since 1953, which Jenkins found hard to believe: he had been living in Seattle and working steady rotations on the waterfront during those two years. 32 While the Coast Guard attempted to make Jenkins seem harmful to his country, Jenkins fought back with an official appeal to the Coast Guard. On September 13, 1955, an ILWU attorney along with nine white union officers testified as character witnesses at the appeal hearing. 33 When asked if communists should be permitted access to "strategic" areas, Jenkins responded that "because he was black he would not practice discrimination against any other person." 34 Jenkins's pass was returned to him in November, 1955. 35 When recalling this incident in his interview, Jenkins claims that he was not surprised at all of the controversy surrounding his pass because of the panic that swept through the country over communism. It is also understandable that he was labeled as such because of his open attitude towards communism and its ideologies. According to Magden however, although Jenkins was in favor of Communist party concepts, he never joined the party. 36

In this struggle Jenkins felt a connection with ILWU president Harry Bridges, who also fought false accusations that he had been a communist-accusations that were meant to weaken the union. Although Jenkins admits in the interview that there were some extreme communists in the ILWU, he adamantly defended their right to be whatever they wanted to be and that they coexisted peacefully with Democrats, Republicans, and other political parties.

Jenkins's life after his retirement in 1967 is not well documented. He died in April 1973. From his late teens to all but the last six of his life, he was a Longshoreman, and quite proud of it. He called the longshoremen a "different breed of animal," which he meant in the most complementary way. 37 As a group of men who "will not accept what they think is not fair," the Longshoremen live on the premise that the union is controlled from the bottom to the top. 38 No contract passed without the support of the workers, which is why Jenkins' position on the executive board meant more than making decisions with fellow board members. Frank had to keep a delicate balance between the workers and the employers. The fact that he was elected nearly every year during his time in the union shows that he was successful.

Despite his setback during the war, Jenkins lead a remarkable life, one that would make his parents proud, even if he did not become a lawyer. He put his heart and soul into a union that dramatically changed social norms by placing men of all different ethnicities and races side by side in the workforce. Magden recalled that "I never heard of one disparaging remark of Frank Jenkins. Every person I ever talked to thought the world of him." 39 In reality, there were probably people who thought otherwise of Frank but while interviewing over one-hundred Seattle Longshoremen, Ron Magden heard "nothing but praise." 40

©Copyright Megan Elston 2005
HSTAA 498 Fall 2004

1 William H. Harris. The Harder We Run: Black workers since the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. 119

4 "Local 19 Mourns Labor Veteran Frank Jenkins," The Dispatcher April 27, 1973, pg. 3.

6 Megan Elston, Tape Recorded Interview of Ronald Magden, May 6, 2005.

7 Richard C. Berner, Tape Recorded Interview of Frank Jenkins, June 6 and 28, 1972.

8 Elston interview of Ron Magden.

9 Berner interview of Frank Jenkins.

11 Quintard Taylor, The Forging of a Black Community (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994), 49.

13 Robert Bedford Pitts. "Organized Labor and the Negro in Seattle." Unpublished MA Thesis, University of Washington, 1941. pp. 40-2

14 Berner interview of Frank Jenkins

15 Joseph Sylvester Jackson. "The Colored Marine Benevolent Association of the Pacific, or, Implications of Vertical Mobility for Negro Stewards in Seattle." Unpublished MA Thesis, University of Washington, 1939. p. 21

16 Berner interview of Frank Jenkins

17 Jonathan Dembo, "A History of the Washington State Labor Movement, 1885-1935" (Unpublished PhD diss., University of Washington, 1978), 628-639.

18 Ronald Magden, Tape Recorded Interview of Andrew and Renee Jenkins, July 7, 1987.

20 Berner interview of Frank Jenkins

25 The Dispatcher April 27, 1973, pg. 3.

26 Elston interview of Ron Magden.

27 Frank Jenkins Collection, Special Collections.

28 Elston interview of Ron Magden.

29 Berner interview of Frank Jenkins

31 "Testifies for Bridges; Has Dock Pass Lifted," The Dispatcher July 22, 1955, pg. 1.

33 "Frank Jenkins Appeals to CG on Revoked Dock-Pass," The Dispatcher September 30, 1955, pg. 5.

35 "Union Veteran," The Dispatcher November 11, 1955, pg. 6.

36 Elston interview of Ron Magden.

37 Berner interview of Frank Jenkins

39 Elston interview of Ron Magden.

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The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has a long history of progressive racial policies, as did its predecessor, the International Longshoreman's Association (ILA). In 1918, the ILA opened its ranks to men of any race. The gesture did not put an end to discrimination, and the union ...

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African Americans in the Washington State Legislature

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African Americans in the Washington State Legislature

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This page is maintained by the reference staff of the Washington State Library. Historical legislators were identified using contemporary newspaper accounts, press releases, and other primary source materials. Current legislators must identify themselves to be included. Anyone wishing to have their name appear on this page should contact Mary Schaff at [email protected] Please contact Mary if you have questions, concerns, or comments.

African Americans have had continuous representation in our state's legislature since 1957.

Name: William Owen Bush (1832-1907)
Party: Republican
District: Thurston County (at large)
Branch: House of Representatives
Years Served: 1st Legislature 1889
Occupation: Farmer
Notable Legislation: House Bill 90 to establish a college for the study of the science of agriculture, which eventually became Washington State University.
Biography: Black Past | Wikipedia | Obituary

Name: John H. Ryan (1865-1943)
Party: Farm Labor; Republican; Democrat
District: 28 Pierce County; 38 Pierce County
Branch: House of Representatives; Senate
Years Served: 1921 -1924 FL; 1931-2 R House of Representatives for District 38;
1933-36 D Senate; 1941-42 D House of Representatives for District 28
Occupation: Journalist
Notable Legislation: Successfully argued against an anti-interracial marriage bill in 1921
Biography: Black Past | Historylink

Name: Charles M. Stokes (1903-1996)
Party: Republican
District: 37 King County
Branch: House of Representatives
Years Served: 1951-1954, 1957-1958
Occupation: Attorney
Notable Legislation: Co-sponsor of the Civil Rights Omnibus Bill of 1957
Biography: Black Past | Historylink | Wikipedia

Name: Samuel (Sam) J. Smith (1922-1995)
Party: Democrat
District: 37 King County
Branch: House of Representatives
Years Served: 1959-1968
Occupation: Boeing Aircraft employee
Notable Legislation: SB 378, the Fair Housing Law of 1967
Biography: Black Past | Legacy Makers | Wikipedia

Name: Marjorie Pitter-King (1921-1996)
Party: Democrat
District: 37 King County
Branch: House of Representatives
Years Served: Appointed 1965 to serve unexpired term
Occupation: Accountant
Notable Legislation: Never participated in a legislative session
Biography: Black Past | Washington State Historical Society | HistoryLink | Obituary

Name: George Fleming (1937 - )
Party: Democrat
District: 37 King County
Branch: House of Representatives; Senate
Years Served: 1969-70 House of Representatives; 1971-1990 Senate
Occupation: Athlete/Economic Development Manager for Pacific Northwest Bell-USWest
Notable Legislation: SB 3230 of 1983, creating the Office of Minority & Women's Business Enterprises
Biography: Black Past | YouTube | Wikipedia

Name: Peggy Joan Maxie (1936 - )
Party: Democrat
District: 37 King County
Branch: House of Representatives
Years Served: 1971-1982
Occupation: Social Worker
Notable Legislation: Prime Sponsor of the Landlord-Tenant Act of 1973
Biography: Black Past | Historylink | Washington State Historical Society

Name: Bill Smitherman (1943 - )
Party: Democrat
District: 26 Pierce and Kitsap Counties
Branch: House of Representatives; Senate
Years Served: 1983-86 House of Representatives; 1986-1990 Senate
Occupation: Management - Planning Consultant
Notable Legislation: SB 6095, Creating UW Tacoma in 1990
Biography: Black Past

Name: Jesse Wineberry (1955 - )
Party: Democrat
District: 37 and 43 King County
Branch: House of Representatives
Years Served: 1985-1992 for District 43; 1993-1994 for District 37
Occupation: Not Listed
Notable Legislation: HB 2319 Programs to Reduce Youth Violence in 1994
Biography: Black Past | Historylink

Name: Rosa Franklin (1927 - )
Party: Democrat
District: 29 Pierce County
Branch: House of Representatives; Senate
Years Served: 1991-1993 House of Representatives; 1993-2010 Senate
Occupation: Nursing
Notable Legislation: SB 5584, the Washington Housing Policy Act of 1993
Biography: Black Past | Washington State Historical Society | Legacy Makers | Women in the Legislature

Name: Vivian Caver (1928 - )
Party: Democrat
District: 37 King County
Branch: House of Representatives
Years Served: Appointed 1994 to an unexpired term
Occupation: Civic and Human Rights Activist
Notable Legislation: HB 2670, relief for seniors and disability retirees on property taxes
Biography: Black Past | Women in the Legislature | Wikipedia | Washington State Historical Society

Name: David Simpson (1956 - )
Party: Democrat
District: 38th Snohomish County
Branch: House of Representatives
Years Served: Appointed 2004 to an unexpired term
Occupation: Teacher and labor advocate
Notable Legislation: HB 2727, requiring insurers who use credit scores to determine elegibility to file rating plans with the Insurance Commissioner
Biography: LinkedIn

Name: Roger Freeman (1966-2014)
Party: Democrat
District: 30 King, Pierce Counties
Branch: House of Representatives
Years Served: 2013 - 2014
Occupation: Attorney
Notable Legislation: HB 1868, Medical insurance for police officers and firefighters
Biography: Wikipedia | Obituary | Obituary

Name: Kristine Reeves (1981 - )
Party: Democrat
District: 30th King, Pierce Counties
Branch: House of Representatives
Years Served: 2017 - 2019
Occupation: Economic Developer
Notable Legislation: HB 1802, the Wounded Warrior Shared Leave Act
Biography: Wikipedia

Name: Debra Entenman (1961 - )
Party: Democrat
District: 47th south King County
Branch: House of Representatives
Years Served: 2019 - current
Occupation: Congressional District Director
Notable Legislation: pending
Biography: Legislature Website

Name: Jesse Johnson (1989 - )
Party: Democrat
District: 30th King, Pierce Counties
Branch: House of Representatives
Years Served: Appointed 2020 to an unexpired term - current
Occupation: Public School Workforce Planning and Development
Notable Legislation: HB 2711 Improving educational outcomes for homeless and foster care children
Biography: Legislature Website

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African Americans in the Washington State Legislature

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This page is maintained by the reference staff of the Washington State Library. Historical legislators were identified using contemporary newspaper accounts, press releases, and other primary source materials. Current legislators must identify themselves to be included. Anyone wishing to have their name appear on this page should contact Mary Schaff at [email protected] Please contact Mary if you have questions, concerns, or comments.

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First Families Project Captures History of Vancouver’s Black Community

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First Families Project Captures History of Vancouver’s Black Community

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First Families Project Captures History of Vancouver's Black Community

Dayton and Cornetta Smith of Vancouver both hail from the same small town of Mexia, Texas, but their courtship began in Portland. His family came to Vancouver as part of what's often called "the first great migration" of African-American families to the Pacific Northwest. The couple met after she was recruited to teach in Portland Public Schools.

When Clark County writer Jane Elder Wulff interviewed the Smiths for her ongoing series of local personality profiles in the Senior Messenger, a monthly newspaper published by the City of Vancouver, none of them imagined where it would lead.

As that 2005 interview led to other stories of African-Americans in Vancouver, Wulff began talking with Cornetta Smith about weaving them all together. The idea soon blossomed into an ambitious effort, sponsored by Vancouver NAACP Branch #1139 and involving hundreds of volunteers and donors, to identify, locate, and interview African-American families who settled in Vancouver during the wartime shipyard era and stayed to build a strong community there.

According to Cornetta Smith, who serves as project director, the primary goal of "First Families of Vancouver's African-American Community: From World War II to the 21st Century" is to publish a book based on these interviews. The project was officially launched as a Black History Month event at a public reception last February at Community AME Zion Church in Vancouver. The book's release is scheduled for Black History Month 2010.

"Our volunteers have identified about 50 families so far," Smith said. The search continues for other Black families who settled in Vancouver during and after the war. As project writer, Wulff is interviewing family members. Other volunteers are recording Wulff's interviews for preservation at the Clark County Historical Museum. Besides having permanent access to these archives, the public will be informed of project activities through presentations, exhibits, and sponsoring websites as the work proceeds.

Wulff said that in writing Messenger profiles that reflect Vancouver's diversity, she has been fortunate to meet many people who were willing to share their experiences. One of these was the late Carl Flipper, a Clark College administrator and president of the National Buffalo Soldiers Historical Society, who told her the story of his great-uncle Henry Ossian Flipper, the first Black officer to graduate from West Point. He introduced her to the Smiths and helped inspire the First Families project before his untimely death in November 2006.

In their own words, Smith and Wulff talk about the significance of the project and its progress thus far.
Cornetta Smith, Project Director

I moved to this area in 1970. I spent many years watching Portland change. As an African-American, I believe it's always very important, wherever we are, that we can document from our points of view and tell our stories, told through our eyes.

This project is significant to me because the population of African-Americans here in Vancouver is very sparse. I felt that we have only a minute portion of information about us and our journeys, contributions, who we were, and what has happened to us since we've been here. It became very important to me that I get a chance to be part of telling the story of what happened.

I like the words "pioneers" and "settlers." We may think we're a small population now, but we were really a small population prior to World War II. We're creating a community family tree - identifying root families - from the time of the war up until now. Our goal is to recognize and credit the contributions of these "first families" in helping make the city and the area become what it is. That's a story that's worth telling.

In my experience, it is important to get the support and blessing of the community, or success could be limited. We set out and talked to numerous people about this project, to get their input about whether there is value in doing it, if they believe that it should be done, if they have an interest in it, and whether they would be willing to support it. The answer was an overwhelming "Yes!"
Jane Elder Wulff, Project Writer

When I tell people that we're doing a project on the history of Vancouver's Black community, the standard response is: "What do you mean? Vancouver doesn't have a Black community!"

The fact is that Vancouver has a strong Black community that began during the war and worked hard to put down roots. The goal of First Families is to bring this community to light. Its story starts in the 1940s, when the Vancouver Housing Authority was organized to provide housing for the great influx of people seeking jobs here.

After the war ended and the shipyards closed, some people decided they liked Vancouver and chose to stay. These first Black families also made a deliberate choice not to settle in just one part of town. In spite of resistance, they made this happen with help from several people in key positions. D. Elwood Caples was a longtime resident who served as postmaster and also as president of the VHA board of directors. Mark Smith, an African-American who came to work as a radar technician for the Navy, was a tenant adviser at VHA and founding president of the local NAACP chapter in 1945. Their working relationship epitomized the cooperation that helped build the community, with help from churches, schools, and other local groups.

Because of these early decisions, Vancouver has no ghetto. The downside is that our African-American community has almost no visibility, even though it has been an important part of Vancouver all these years. People have known each other like family, and many of them have contributed not only to the Black community, but to the Vancouver community at large. Wider recognition of their lives and contributions will benefit us all.

Summer 2008 Colors of Influence || Share on Facebook

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Colors of Influence - An Online Magazine For and About People of Color in Business and Civic Leadership

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First Families Project Captures History of Vancouver's Black Community Dayton and Cornetta Smith of Vancouver both hail from the same small town of Mexia, Texas, but their courtship began in Portland. His family came to Vancouver as part of what's often called "the first great migration" of African-American families to the Pacific Northwest.

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Event(s): Vault, Floor Exercise, Balance Beam, All-Around

Birthplace: Tualatin, Ore.

Hometown: Vancouver, Wash.

High School: Prairie High School '19

College: University of California, Los Angeles '24, Zoology

Team/Club: World Champions Centre

Coach(es): Laurent Landi, Cecile Landi

Olympic Experience

One-time Olympian (2020), one-time Olympic medalist (silver)

Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, silver (team)

Other Career Highlights

2021 U.S. vault bronze medalist

2021 Winter Cup, gold (all-around, vault, floor exercise), silver (balance beam)

2018 U.S. vault silver medalist

2017 U.S. all-around silver medalist

Personal: Daughter of Timothy and Gina Chiles...Has four siblings: Jazmin, Jade, Tajmen & Tyrus...Favorite thing about gymnastics is being around her friends and doing things other people can't, like fly...Nickname is "Chick"...Loves Wonder Woman and anything Super Hero related...Named after Michael Jordan...Was only 11 years old when she reached the elite level and made her first national team and international assignment in the same month when she was 12 year old...Plays the clarinet and saxophone and can read music...Was in the marching band in high school...Loves animals, shopping, Pinterest, drawing, painting and spending time with her family.

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Event(s): Vault, Floor Exercise, Balance Beam, All-Around Birthplace: Tualatin, Ore. Hometown: Vancouver, Wash. High School: Prairie High School '19 College: University of California, Los Angeles '24, Zoology Team/Club: World Champions Centre Coach(es): Laurent Landi, Cecile Landi Olympic Experience One-time Olympian (2020), one-time Olympic medalist (silver) Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, silver (team) Other Career Highlights 2021 U.S.

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Dr. James W. Washington Jr. & Mrs. Janie Rogella Washington Foundation

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Dr. James Washington
"Washington, James Jr. (1911-2000): Art as Holy Land
By Deloris Tarzan Ament Posted 3/01/2003 HistoryLink.org Essay 5328″

The eminent African American sculptor and painter James Washington Jr. was a leading member of the Northwest School. He grew up in Mississippi. After working as a WPA artist, he came to the Puget Sound region in 1944 to work in the Bremerton Naval Yard as a journeyman electrician. He found exhibition space at Frederick & Nelson's Little Gallery and through that venue met Mark Tobey (1890-1976) and other Northwest artists. He places his visionary paintings and sculptures in the service of religious faith. They express the unity of God, humankind, and nature, with symbols derived from freemasonry and from the animal world. This biography of James Washington Jr. is reprinted from Deloris Tarzan Ament's Iridescent Light: The Emergence of Northwest Art (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2002). Read more
Janie Rogella Washington
"Washington, Janie Rogella (1908-2000)
By Mary T. Henry Posted 7/21/2008 HistoryLink.org Essay 8682″

Janie Rogella Washington was a Seattle nurse and supportive wife who shared and inspired the spirituality that shaped the art of her husband, Dr. James W. Washington Jr. (1911-2000), the internationally known Northwest artist. Read more

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Dr. James Washington "Washington, James Jr. (1911-2000): Art as Holy Land By Deloris Tarzan Ament Posted 3/01/2003 HistoryLink.org Essay 5328" The eminent African American sculptor and painter James Washington Jr. was a leading member of the Northwest School. He grew up in Mississippi. After working as a WPA artist, he came to the Puget Sound...

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Seattle’s Black women activists have been marching for decades

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Seattle’s Black women activists have been marching for decades

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Seattle’s Black women activists have been marching for decades | Crosscut

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Quin’Nita Cobbins-Modica, the historian now leading BlackPast.org, talks about this pivotal moment and the women who helped get us here.

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Support Black-Owned Businesses in Vancouver and Beyond

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Support Black-Owned Businesses in Vancouver and Beyond

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As we continue to look for ways to support our small business community, we want to take this moment to highlight Black-owned businesses in Vancouver and Clark County. We discovered many of these businesses through iloveblackfood.com/pdx-directory and mercatuspdx.com, which are great resources to support Black restaurateurs and entrepreneurs of color in the larger metro region. If you own or know of a business we are missing, please reach out to marcom@visitvancouverwa.com so we can add them.

FOOD

With hearty portions and bold flavors, Goldie's Texas Style BBQ brings just that to east Vancouver. Serving up family recipes for decades, customers cannot wait to order the tender smoky meats, satisfying sandwiches, and delicious sides time after time. Owner Charles Bibens is also featured on page 9 and 30 of the latest edition of our Travel Magazine.

Southern Girl Delights and Creative Catering by Dorothy are owned and operated by Dorothy Golson who serves up classic southern recipes with a Pacific Northwest flair. Find the Southern Girl Delights food cart around Vancouver, Portland, and all of Clark County. Enjoy bites like shrimp and grits, a catfish basket, and cornbread waffles. Call ahead orders are welcome, and you can check their Facebook for daily specials.

Experience Daddy D's Southern Style Barbeque in Vancouver and Woodland, WA. Savor generous portions of pulled pork, beef brisket, and BBQ chicken sandwiches-all meats slowly smoked for 14 hours blended with all the special spices and barbecue sauce developed by owner Donnie Vercher.

For a delicious taste of home-cooked BBQ, with tried-and-true family recipes and hearty portions, find HeavyWeights BBQ. By way of Vancouver, cousins Chef Larry and CFO Alexis are bringing delicious smoked meats, sides, and good vibes to the PNW. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram to see where their next event will be.

RETAIL

Find fashionable apparel while supporting local when shopping with Better Mind * Better Body (BMBB). Every one of their products is designed and hand-pressed in their Vancouver, WA shop. Sourcing only the highest quality material and processes, you can't miss the attention to detail, making each garment purchased uniquely yours. You can also join them for a variety of community events likes cycle bar wellness rides, Vancouver wellness crawls, and more!

Inspired by local art and the Pacific Northwest, grab your Vancouver or PNW gear from Nimble Fern! A distinctive apparel and accessories company working to inspire local communities and bring people together. Their products are made with the best quality material available with unique designs that customers love to wear. Owner Halston Williams is also featured on page 23 of the latest edition of our Travel Magazine.

Get inspired, live your best life, and look great doing it with Day One Active Wear! This active apparel company strives to motivate and encourage customers to live everyday like it's Day One. Choose from a sizeable selection of matching sets, sweatshirts, tanks, and tees for your next workout session.

Check out Helen Rose Skincare for unique organic skincare products designed to moisturize, heal, and restore dry, damaged, and irritated skin, all from high quality ingredients. Choose from a range of fantastic options including cupuaçu butter, natural deodorants, soaps, soaks, washes, and so much more! Owner Daynelle Bibb is also the Executive Director of Om Thrive -Yoga, and donates a portion of the profits to support Om Thrive's mission to provide healing yoga practice to survivors of domestic violence.

SPAS & WELLNESS

A destination for relaxation, The Eucalyptus Lounge is the only Black-owned family business of massage therapists in downtown Vancouver, WA. Offering lengthy massages with enhanced options like aromatherapy, deep blue or biofreeze, hot stones, and more, they are ready and pleased to provide clients and community with a space for them to simply be.

Maintain your optimal physical health through manual and massage therapy with Entheos Health in Vancouver, WA. Enjoy deep tissue or relaxation massage therapy through various techniques, tools and products, as they help you take back your health with enthusiasm.

NONPROFITS

Check out this refreshing effort making the outdoors more inclusive and welcoming for all! Hosting outdoor group adventures and providing education, resources, and workshops, Wild Diversity is creating a sense of belonging in the outdoors for the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. While acknowledging the cultural history and stewards of the Pacific Northwest-the Clackamas, Chinook, and Cowlitz peoples-Wild Diversity's group of adventure leaders are there to help individuals explore, connect, and find a place in the outdoors.
For more information on making the Pacific Northwest outdoors welcome for all, click here.
SERVICES
We realize that highlighting Black-owned businesses does not address the current calls for justice reform and will continue to look and listen for additional ways to support Black people who live in and choose to visit our community.

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Black owned businesses in Vancouver, Washington

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As we continue to look for ways to support our small business community, we want to take this moment to highlight Black-owned businesses in Vancouver and Clark County. We discovered many of these businesses through iloveblackfood.com/pdx-directory and mercatuspdx.com , which are great resources to support Black restaurateurs and entrepreneurs of color in the larger metro region.

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This 1850 U.S. Census enumeration sheet shows Monimia Travers on line 5. Enlarge image

Monimia/Mommia Travers (ca. 1801-n.d.)

Monimia Travers was born in Virginia around 1801 and was brought to Fort Vancouver by Captain Llewellyn Jones prior to 1850. Captain Jones purchased Monimia from her previous owner, Isaac Burbayge in April of 1849, prior to the Jones' journey to the Oregon Territory. In a manumission (the act of a slave owner setting their slave free) document recorded in May 1851, Jones states he is giving her "...freedom unconditionally, and she is in all respects free to go and do as may seem to her most to her advantage, without let or hindrance from me, my agents, heirs or assigns."

In another document he states that Monimia "is an honest and perfectly conscientious woman and deserves kind and good treatment at the hands of every one."

Why Captain Jones "freed" her is not known but there is some speculation that Jones left the Oregon Territory "within days" of granting Monimia her freedom. Another possible reason was that a few months before Monimia was freed the Oregon Spectator published the laws passed by the Territorial Legislature that excluded Blacks and Mulattoes from coming to Oregon and indicated that the laws would be enforced. Whatever the reason, Monimia was granted her freedom.

What happened to her after this is unknown since she does not appear in any Oregon or Washington census records.

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Monimia/Mommia Travers (ca. 1801-n.d.) Monimia Travers was born in Virginia around 1801 and was brought to Fort Vancouver by Captain Llewellyn Jones prior to 1850. Captain Jones purchased Monimia from her previous owner, Isaac Burbayge in April of 1849, prior to the Jones' journey to the Oregon Territory.

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Published: January 30, 2022, 6:05am

This article is available exclusively to subscribers like you.

Photo Gallery

The Columbian is becoming a rare example of a news organization with local, family ownership. Subscribe today to support local journalism and help us to build a stronger community.

Women on the bench in Clark County

Department One
Judge Nancy N. Retsinas, 57

Retsinas had served as a mediator since 2015, assisting families with navigating ante-nuptial agreements and marriage dissolutions. Prior to her appointment, her 30-year law career also included practice in consumer protection, family law, criminal law and juvenile delinquency.

Public service inspired her to pursue the judgeship.

"I loved practicing the law and enjoyed feeling that I had an impact on my clients' lives or the lives of their children, or others that were involved in whatever the situation was," Retsinas said. "I wanted to bring that passion for the law and that passion for impacting individuals into a broader framework of impacting the community."

Her role models include retired Judge Barbara Johnson; her older brother, who practices law; and the attorneys at her old law firm, then known as Morse & Bratt.
Department Five
Judge Camara L.J. Banfield, 49

Banfield had served as a criminal prosecutor with the county prosecutor's office since 2004, most recently as the office's chief criminal deputy prosecutor.

The court's first Black judge, she decided to pursue the appointment because "it's the best platform to continue to do the work that I feel needs to be done in our community. You touch so many people's lives in our community."

In addition to state Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu, many of Banfield's mentors have been white men, including Jim Miller, her first chief criminal deputy prosecutor; Clark County Prosecutor Tony Golik; and attorney and Judge Roger Bennett.

"When you live in a community like this, your mentors are going to be those people that the community looks like, and those white men on the bench, the ones that were encouraging me to apply, that's who they were," Banfield said. "They were my allies from the beginning, and they were my mentors."
Department Seven
Judge Jennifer K. Snider, 51

Snider practiced family law and dependency for 17 years before being appointed as a full-time Superior Court commissioner in August 2013.

She wanted to challenge herself, she said, and becoming a judge seemed to be the next step in her legal career.

Her legal role models include her former law partners, Eric Johnson and William Reed; the three female judges before her: Barbara Johnson, Diane Woolard and Suzan Clark; and Commissioners Carin Schienberg and the late Dayann Liebman, a fellow family law practitioner, co-worker and 20-plus-year friend. "She and I spent many breakfasts and late-night phone calls discussing the law," Snider said.
Department Eight
Judge Suzan L. Clark, 59

Clark spent two years as a deputy prosecutor in Cowlitz County and four years as a deputy prosecutor in Clark County. Prior to her appointment, she had been in private practice since 1994.

She received encouragement from colleagues and judges to pursue the judgeship, she said, and it was the natural next step to use her experience to serve the community. "I really view it as a way to give back," she said.

Among Clark's mentors, she credits Barbara Johnson; the late C.C. Bridgewater, a former Cowlitz County prosecutor and retired state appeals court judge; the late retired Judge Robert Harris; and retired Judge John Skimas.
Department 11
Judge Emily A. Sheldrick, 50

She had served as a deputy prosecutor in the county's civil division since 2014 and held the position of chief civil deputy since January 2018. In that role, she advised the Clark County Council and other county officials, and represented the county in litigation and labor arbitrations.

Sheldrick said now-retired Judge James Ladley was "absolutely a mentor" to her. He encouraged her to think about becoming a judge and was always willing to talk out issues.

In considering the judgeship, "I spoke to all female judicial officers about what inspired them, and when I heard their stories and their commitment to public service and drive to provide due process to litigants, those themes really resonated with me."

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Women rule: Recent additions make Clark County Superior Court better reflect community

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Published: January 30, 2022, 6:05am This article is available exclusively to subscribers like you. The Columbian is becoming a rare example of a news organization with local, family ownership. Subscribe today to support local journalism and help us to build a stronger community. Department One Judge Nancy N.

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February CCHM Speaker Series presenter Frazier Raymond, right, stands with the late Bill Morehouse, founding member of the Buffalo Soldiers - Moses Williams Pacific Northwest Chapter.

Clark County Historical Museum will launch its 2020 Speaker Series on Thursday, Feb. 6, with Frazier Raymond's presentation of "Buffalo Soldiers in Clark County." Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the event will begin at 7 p.m.

Raymond is president of the Buffalo Soldiers - Moses Williams Pacific Northwest Chapter, 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry Association. Raymond enlisted in the U.S. Army Infantry in 1968 and retired in 1990, with the rank of Staff Sergeant. He served in many locations, including Vietnam, Fort Lewis, WA, Europe, and South America.

"When I was in the Army, before I retired, I did not know much about the Buffalo Soldiers," Raymond said. "It was only after I retired and joined the Buffalo Soldiers - Moses Williams Chapter that I found out how similar our experiences were. I look forward to telling this story."

For the Speaker Series event, Raymond will discuss his own military service and involvement with the Buffalo Soldiers, and reflect on his personal connections to sites related to Buffalo Soldiers in the Pacific Northwest and how those experiences have shaped his perspectives on military service.

To learn more about the Buffalo Soldiers - Moses Williams Pacific Northwest Chapter, 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry Association, visit buffalosoldierspdx.com/Pacific_NW_Chapter.html.

The CCHM Speaker Series is sponsored by the Clark County Historic Preservation Commission. General admission is $5; seniors and students are $4; children under 18 are $3; and the evening is free for CCHM members, veterans, and active-duty military personnel. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early, as it is first-come, first-served seating.

For more information, contact the museum at 360-993-5679 or outreach@cchmuseum.org.

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Buffalo Soldiers in Clark County - Clark County Historical Museum

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Clark County Historical Museum will launch its 2020 Speaker Series on Thursday, Feb. 6, with Frazier Raymond's presentation of "Buffalo Soldiers in Clark County." Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the event will begin at 7 p.m. Raymond is president of the Buffalo Soldiers - Moses Williams Pacific Northwest Chapter, 9th and 10th U.S.

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Al Smith, Sr. Photo Collection – Seattle African American Community over four decades 

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Al Smith, Sr. Photo Collection – Seattle African American Community over four decades 

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11 of the most influential Black people in Pacific Northwest sports history

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11 of the most influential Black people in Pacific Northwest sports history

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11 of the most influential Black people in Pacific Northwest sports history

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11 of the most influential Black people in Pacific Northwest sports history

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An overview of athletes that have made an impact in the African American community over the years.

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Lists

As part of our Black History Month celebrations, we want to spotlight Black authors who were raised in the Pacific Northwest, or make their homes and livelihoods here now. From Newbery and Caldecott medalist Renée Watson to Whiting and Ernst J. Gains Award winner Mitchell S. Jackson, the writers below often examine Black life in the Pacific Northwest, and their words are central to our evolving, collective sense of place and identity.

Find an extensive list of reading recommendations on our Black History Month page.

So You Want to Talk About Race
by Ijeoma Oluo

In her first book, So You Want to Talk About Race, Seattlelite Oluo guides the reader through the explosive terrain of 21st-century race relations, providing clear explanations of the many ways American society is structured to empower white people, particularly men. Arguing that a person can be complicit in a racist society without being an explicitly bad or racist person, Oluo takes some of the sting out of a conversation that rightly places the onus on white citizens to take the lead in confronting racial discrimination and violence. It's a tricky balance - not placing blame but demanding recognition and reparation - and Oluo manages it with grace and care. We expect that her forthcoming book, Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America (December 2020), which expands on how white male power has brought us to a current political moment that is toxic to women, immigrants, people of color, and all of America's many disenfranchised citizens, will be just as erudite and instructive.

Field Theories
by Samiya Bashir

Suckers for pretty much anything that melds physics with the literary, we weren't let down by Portland poet and Reed College creative writing professor Bashir's award-winning 2017 collection, Field Theories. Using the language of thermodynamics, Bashir crafts challenging, visually inventive poems that combine scientific vernacular (radiation, probability, blackbody, curves, coronagraphy) with folklore (John Henry) and contemporary issues to examine the ways the Black body is and has been interpreted by American society, and to subvert dominant interpretations. Field Theories is an extraordinary work, whose formal and linguistic complexity invite endless re-readings.

Survival Math
by Mitchell S. Jackson

In both his novel The Residue Years and lyrical memoir Survival Math, Portland-raised Mitchell S. Jackson takes a riveting and often gutting look at growing up in Portland, OR. In his novel, Jackson explores the impact of crack cocaine on the Black community through the story of Champ and his mom, Grace, both of whom find securing financial stability difficult without resorting to the drug trade, although in different ways. Survival Math is equally gritty but even better, showcasing Jackson's unique ability to draw on a hybrid lexicon of literary, religious, and slang terms and techniques that stress the relevancy of history while working simultaneously to heighten the memoir's prose portions and ground them in the realities Survival Math elucidates. Jackson's skill in blending biblical exegesis, American history, personal experience, and Western and popular culture arrests the reader's attention, signaling that what they're reading is more than a memoir, history book, or sociological treatise; instead, Survival Math is a superb and unsparing demonstration of how everyday life is an amalgam of how all of those forces - law, precedent, context, choice, and faith - work in concert to make us and our communities who we are.

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
by Heidi W. Durrow

Like Jackson, Heidi Durrow came of age in Portland, OR. Her autobiographical debut follows Rachel, a biracial teen who is sent to live with her paternal grandmother in Portland after a family tragedy. This is the first time Rachel has lived in a predominantly Black neighborhood, and her sudden immersion in Black culture and growing comprehension of how people see her own racial difference is the main focus of this incisive and emotionally gripping coming-of-age novel. Durrow's prose is lovely, and while her depiction of 1980s Portland rings true, it's sobering how many of the race- and culture-based obstacles and stereotypes Rachel encounters have carried through into 2020.

Washington Black
by Esi Edugyan

This Powell's staff favorite by British Columbia resident Edugyan is a bildungsroman that follows a young slave, Wash, on a remarkable journey with Titch, the white brother of his master (whom both escape). Throughout the many stops on their journey from Barbados to the Arctic, and later in Canada, England, and Morocco, Wash must contend with the unexpected ways people respond to his appearance and unusual gifts in illustration and science, as well as with abandonment and the threat of recapture. In Washington Black, Edugyan spins a fantastical and continually surprising tale that upends traditional notions of the runaway slave narrative while keeping that history at the forefront of the reader's mind. This buoyant and thoughtful novel has us waiting eagerly for whatever Edugyan writes next.

Piecing Me Together
by Renée Watson

We've already mentioned how much we love former Portlander Renée Watson, but it's for good reason: her writing at the intersection of race and childhood manages to be both relevant and timeless, every time. In Piecing Me Together, Watson tells the story of Jade, a teenaged Portlander struggling with prejudice at her mostly white private high school. Jade is frustrated by how her school labels her as at-risk, working to "save" her without getting to know her, and with the unfairness of having to navigate racial profiling and racist policing at school and in her neighborhood. In Jason Reynolds's words, "Watson, with rhythm and style, somehow gets at the toxicity of sympathy, the unquenchable thirst of fear, and the life-changing power of voice and opportunity, all wrapped up in Jade - the coolest young lady in the world." With themes of identity and racism that many readers of color may relate to, and an attendant focus on the power of art to help establish your own voice, Piecing Me Together is a fabulous read for kids and adults alike.

Naked
by Nastashia Minto

Local writer Nastashia Minto's debut, Naked: The Rhythm and Groove of It. The Depth and Length to It., uses poetry and memoir to explore the ways her identity emerges from a confluence of queerness, sexuality, trauma, love, race, faith, and family history. Minto is as good as her word, crafting pieces that bare both her life's triumphs and moments of terrible fear with candor and a heart-thumping rhythm, at times veering into the cadence and excitement of slam poetry. Bookseller Dianah observes, "Minto flays open her wound for the whole world to see in this stark and searing work that examines every feeling for nuance and meaning. First, there's pain, but with love, healing and redemption can catch fire and explode. Beautiful."

New Suns
by Nisi Shawl, Ed.

Wahingtonian Nisi Shawl is a veteran speculative fiction writer and multi-award winner and nominee for her short fiction. Her work and teaching career have long focused on diversifying the speculative fiction community and canon, and on the ways sci-fi and fantasy writing can be used to address colonialism, globalization, sexism, and racial inequality. New Suns, a new anthology of short fiction by writers of color, continues with these themes, focusing on the experience of otherness and marginalization from Indigenous, African, and Latinx perspectives, among others. A satisfying mix of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy by some of today's best speculative fiction writers, veteran and up-and-coming, New Suns offers many immersive and striking stories. While New Suns is Shawl's most recent project, it's also worth checking out her steampunk-utopia-by-way-of-the-Congo novel, Everfair, which explores her career-long interests in multiculturalism and equality through a beautiful reimagining of African colonial history.

Middle Passage
by Charles Johnson

An older work, the 1990 National Book Award-winning Middle Passage by University of Washington professor emeritus Charles Johnson tells the story of free man Rutherford Calhoun, who unknowingly stows away on the final illegal slave ship to Africa in order to escape his creditor and the school teacher who wants to marry him. Despite his background, Calhoun is a bit of a scoundrel who initially doesn't have much sympathy for the ship's slave cargo, the Allmuseri tribe. The story is both richly metaphorical and madcap - there's a mutiny, slave revolt, and a possible stolen god - giving it a meaningful adventure vibe that feels a little akin to Colson Whitehead's and Ta-Nehisi Coates's more recent imaginative takes on the slave narrative. If you're unfamiliar with Johnson's work, which includes PEN/Faulkner finalist Sorceror's Apprentice and numerous short story awards, Middle Passage is an excellent place to start.

Queen of the Ebony Isles
by Colleen McElroy

Another University of Washington professor, poet Colleen McElroy's Queen of the Ebony Isles won the 1985 American Book Award. While Queen is perhaps her most widely known work, McElroy has authored several poetry collections (including her award-winning 2007 collection, Sleeping With the Moon, and the sadly out-of-print What Madness Brought Me Here), as well as plays, short stories, and memoirs. McElroy is celebrated for the clarity of her verse, which often circles back to themes of autobiography, longing, otherness, and desire, and views its subjects with empathy and tiny, luminous threads of humor.

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Black History Month: Authors of the Pacific Northwest by Powell's Books

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Lists As part of our Black History Month celebrations, we want to spotlight Black authors who were raised in the Pacific Northwest, or make their homes and livelihoods here now. From Newbery and Caldecott medalist Renée Watson to Whiting and Ernst J. Gains Award winner Mitchell S.

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Veterans of Seattle’s civil rights campaigns tell their stories in streaming video oral histories.

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Veterans of Seattle’s civil rights campaigns tell their stories in streaming video oral histories.

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Cordova, Fred and Dorothy

Active in Seattle's Filipino American community for more than fifty years, the Cordovas created the Filipino Youth Association in the 1960s, the Demonstration Project for Asian Americans in the 1970s, and the Filipino American National Historical Society in the 1980s.

Martinez, Frank and Blanca

Frank Martinez and Blanca Estella met at the UW during the 1970s. Active in MEChA and the farm workers movement, they were also principle actors and organizers of Teatro del Piojo, the activist Chicano theater troup that performed throughout the Pacific Northwest during the 1970s.

Sanchez, Ricardo

Ricardo Sanchez was Director of El Concilio for the Spanish Speaking of King County that called attention to the dearth of Latinos hired by the county, organized cultural events, and published a newspaper called La Voz. In 1998, Sanchez founded LEAP, which played an instrumental role in introducing legislation for in-state tuition and financial aid for undocumented students.

Sandoval, Tomas and Julia

The Sandovals were part of the first large cohort of Chicanos recruited by the UW in 1968. They were founding members of UMAS and involved with the anti-Vietnam War movement. From 1972 to 1974, Tomas Sandoval was the Director of Activos Mexicanos that provided transition services to Chicanos relocating to Seattle such as emergency housing and job referrals.

Smith, Charles Z.

Born in Florida, Charles Smith moved to Seattle in 1955 to attend law school at UW. Active in African American civil rights efforts, he also became a member of the Japanese American Citizens League. He served as Dean of the UW Law School and In 1988 became the first African American to serve on the Washington State Supreme Court.

Uhlman, Wes

Mayor of Seattle from 1969 to 1977, Uhlman presided over one of the most turbulent and significant eras in Seattle's history. Only 34 years old when he took office and more liberal than his predecessors, Uhlman changed the tone of city politics.

Villanueva, Tomas

Founder and past President of the United Farm Workers of Washington state, Tomas Villanueva was 14 when his family immigrated from Mexico, settling in Toppenish three years later. Since the mid 1960s, he has devoted his life to the struggle to unionize farm workers.

Winslow, Barbara

A member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Washington, WInslow quickly became a leader of the emerging women's liberation movement in Seattle, helping to found both Radical Women and Women's Liberation in Seattle in 1968.

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Veterans of Seattle’s civil rights campaigns tell their stories in streaming video oral histories. Acevez, Pedro Born in Wapato, Washington, Pedro Acevez was part of the first contingent of Chicano students to enroll at the University of Washington. He served as President of MEChA de UW and ...

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State of Oregon: Black in Oregon - Abner Hunt Francis

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The official website of the Oregon Secretary of State

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Meet the Black women who made historic gains in WA politics in 2020 | Crosscut 

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Meet the Black women who made historic gains in WA politics in 2020 | Crosscut 

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Meet the Black women who made historic gains in WA politics in 2020

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The number of Black women in Washington's Legislature will triple next year, and the state just elected a Black woman to Congress for the first time.

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George Washington was a prominent pioneer in the state named, like he was, for America’s first president. He founded Centralia in southwest Washington and was a leading citizen and benefactor of the town. Washington’s father was a slave, his mother of English descent. When his … Read MoreGeorge W…

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Voices of the Manhattan Project: jim Crow at Hanford

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Voices of the Manhattan Project: jim Crow at Hanford

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"Voices of the Manhattan Project" is a joint project by the Atomic Heritage Foundation and the Los Alamos Historical Society to create a public archive of our oral history collections of Manhattan Project veterans and their families.

Our online collection features 600 audio/visual interviews with Manhattan Project workers and their families, including J. Robert Oppenheimer, General Leslie R. Groves, Glenn Seaborg, Hans and Rose Bethe, George and Vera Kistiakowsky, and many more.

"Voices" includes interviews with some of the men who flew on the atomic bombing missions. Our "Voices from Japan" section includes interviews with atomic bomb survivors, the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and experts on the bombings and their impacts.

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"Voices of the Manhattan Project" is a joint project by the Atomic Heritage Foundation and the Los Alamos Historical Society to create a public archive of our oral history collections of Manhattan Project veterans and their families. Our online collection features 600 audio/visual interviews with Manhattan Project workers and their families, including J.

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Support Black Music: A Guide to the Seattle Artists You Should Be Streaming Right Now

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Support Black Music: A Guide to the Seattle Artists You Should Be Streaming Right Now

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Supporting black artists (and black-owned businesses) is essential every day, and Seattle is brimming with talented black performers and bands that Stranger critics have written about again and again, from sibling duo the Black Tones to jazz institution Industrial Revelation to young star Parisalexa. With nationwide protests demanding justice for black lives, the online music publishing platform Bandcamp is waiving their revenue share from midnight to midnight on Friday, June 5, and again on Friday, July 3, meaning that all proceeds will go directly to artists. (Plus, while you're writing down dates, know that Bandcamp will also donate 100% of their shares to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in honor of Juneteenth on Friday, June 19.) Below, we've rounded up active Seattle musicians whose music you can buy directly on Bandcamp and other platforms (meaning we haven't included artists like Jimi Hendrix and Riz Rollins, whose work is also essential to Seattle's music scene). Did we mention that June is also Black Music Appreciation Month? Go forth and buy tunes.
We've done our best to make this post as comprehensive as possible, but please email us at calendar@thestranger.com if we're missing anyone!
Afrocop
Afrocop is a spectral jazz trio whose sounds go into outer space, with moods and styles varying greatly, from cuts that feel like they should be scoring the chase scenes in the original (1980s-era) Terminator (like "Sci-Tropics"), to "Upward Bound," which starts out with vague NOLA jazz vibes before venturing into cosmic grooveland. LEILANI POLK
(Originally appeared in a November 2019 Timbre Room show preview . Founding memberNoel Brass Jr.'s solo work is also available on Bandcamp.)

Ahamefule J. Oluo
We turn to Ahamefule J. Oluo, whose name you might be familiar with from pieces he's written in The Stranger. Or maybe you know him from his work in the band Industrial Revelation (more on that below). Or maybe you know him from the stand-up he's done at venues like Comedy Underground. Or maybe you saw his show Now I'm Fine at Town Hall or On the Boards or the Moore. Remember when we all used to be able to go see shows at Town Hall, On the Boards, and the Moore? We thought nothing of it. We had no idea how lucky we were. You can now attend a virtual screening of the production of Now I'm Fine at On the Boards here.
(Excerpted from a May 8, 2020 Message to the City.)

Archie
It thrills me to say that Archie, no longer known as PSA (Pop Star Archie) has-to use an industry phrase-blown the fuck up. This girl has been bobbing and weaving all over the Seattle music scene this year, dropping hauntingly beautiful tracks left and right. Her latest EP, 613, dropped in late November, and it contains some of my favorite songs to come out of 2019, most notably "Bad Bitch," featuring Stranger favorite DoNormaal. It's a community read, letting everyone out there know that Archie and Dodo have been on it for years and aren't stopping anytime soon. You'd best listen. KIM SELLING

Bear Axe
Bear Axe absolutely slay harder than a thousand, steel-hoofed reindeer. ZACH FRIMMEL

The Black Ends
Led by guitarist/vocalist Nicolle Swims, Seattle trio the Black Ends recently impressed a large Chop Suey crowd while opening for the Black Tones at the latter's album-release party. Further impressiveness arrives with the Black Ends' new Sellout EP. Its four odd rock songs bear a subtle darkness and sense of unease. Swims's guitar seems to be tuned to a cool, strange mode that generates faded twangs and muted chimes while her voice has a downered, Chrissie Hynde-esque nasality that's distinctive. Swims's song structures gently skew in a manner reminiscent of obscure, women-dominated groups such as Quix*o*tic and Oh-OK. I can imagine the Black Ends-who include bassist Ben Swanson and drummer Jonny Modes-signing to a respected label such as K or Kill Rock Stars in the near future. DAVE SEGAL
(Excerpted from a July 2019 Inbox Jukebox).

The Black Tones
KEXP's Audioasis DJ Eva Walker and her brother Cedric know how to punkify the blues and blues-ify the punk. If you've ever witnessed their high-octane rock and roll shows and the dynamic of Eva's infectious and idiosyncratic quirks matched with the band's avalanche-like force, then you know you can't experience their shows enough. Their 2019 chart-topping Cobain and Cornbread is easily one of the strongest full-lengths (a debut at that!) to come out of Seattle this year-not to mention one of the more culturally salient bands to break out in the rock genre right before the new decade. ZACH FRIMMEL
(Excerpted from a December 2019 Neumos show preview . The Black Tones are also continuing to stream episodes of their TV music showVideo Bebop on the Seattle Channel.)

Chimurenga Renaissance
If you want a night of the purest African headcharge out there, do not miss this show, which features two very progressive African bands, Mokoomba and Chimurenga Renaissance. The former is based in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, and the latter is based in Seattle, but it features a member, Tendai "Baba" Maraire, who is Zimbabwean by blood. (Maraire is also one-half of Shabazz Palaces.) Mokoomba's sound is like nothing I have heard before-a swinging mix of Afro pop, Brit pop, American rock and soul, and Jamaican ska. Chimurenga Renaissance's direction is Afrofuturist. In their music, one hears the ancient ruins of Great Zimbabwe transformed into a spaceship guided by spirits. This show will take you there. CHARLES MUDEDE

Da Qween
Currently occupying the throne of local queer rap is Da Qween, the hard femme with harder bars and a hunger to establish themselves as not only the queen of Seattle, but the queen of everything. KIM SELLING

Dave B
Listen, y'all, Dave B is good-really fucking good. Hailing from Renton, the rapper won MoPOP's Sound Off! competition in 2013, performed Macklemore's hit "Corner Store" alongside Travis Thompson on The Tonight Show in 2017, and dropped a new album in June called Bleu. Dave B's third LP finds the rapper doubling down on what makes him such a standout: witty lyrics, a flow that alternates between soulful singing and incisive rapping, and excellent production. Be sure to listen to "CPU LUV," a funny rumination on love in the digital age. He'll be joined by Seattle-born, LA-based comedian Jak Knight. JASMYNE KEIMIG

DoNormaal
Before you read another word, I highly recommend that you download or stream DoNormaal's second album, Third Daughter, and listen to this masterpiece of indie, gritty post-hip-hop at least three times. If you are already familiar with the album, and if, like me, you can't get enough of it, then let's get right to it. The first thing that needs to be said about DoNormaal, a Seattle-based MC (ed. note: DoNormaal is now based in Califonia) whose born-name is Christianne Karefa-Johnson, is that she has a style of rapping that's at once mesmerizing and original. Often the two attributes do not meet in one rapper. DoNormaal swings effortlessly as she constructs dense rhyme patterns that negotiate an unusual emotional space for a hip-hop artist-between anger and hurt. The anger in her work relates to her social situation (a black woman in a racist and misogynistic society), but this anger is tempered by hurt that is profoundly personal (her childhood tragedies, the challenges her family faced). As a consequence, the mood of her raps on Third Daughter is that of a slow or controlled burning. CHARLES MUDEDE
(Excerpted from a June 2019 piece, "DoNormaal's Not-So-Normal Hiphop")

Erik Blood
Blood, who is also a composer and musician, has worked with Shabazz Palaces from their inception, back in 2009, produced a number of local indie bands (most notably the Moondoggies), and in 2012 released his own album, Touch Screens, a masterpiece of 21st-century pop. Each track on this album is broadly catchy, but also carefully, thoughtfully, deeply organized. Indeed, his best work can be described as a big and gorgeous flower whose creator is only visible in the small details, the intricate patterns, the subtle structures. CHARLES MUDEDE
(Excerpted from a June 2014 profile, when he was nominated for a Stranger Genius Award. Read more about him in Dave Segal's September 2016 profile, when he won a Stranger Genius Award.)

Falon Sierra
Falon Sierra's soulful voice draws comparisons to Ari Lennox or Amy Winehouse-but make no mistake, it's her dreamy storytelling flair and quirky twists (like sampling a Lars von Trier film) that prove she's doing her own thing. Also, that girl can emote. AMBER CORTES
(Originally appeared in a 2018 Capitol Hill Block Party show preview.)

Fantasy A
If you haven't seen a Fantasy A poster, then you've never lifted your eyes from your smartphone while walking around our fair city. Fantasy A is Seattle's undisputed king of hustle, a title earned from stapling and taping every damn vertical surface in this town. The 25-year-old on-the-spectrum rapper struggles with his flow, but his self-deprecating style is sui generis. His debut film, Fantasy A Gets Jacked, is not about his admirable physique, but about getting robbed repeatedly. GREGORY SCRUGGS
(Originally appeared in a 2018 Capitol Hill Block Party show preview. Read more about him in Jason Josephes's 2015 profile, "Meet Fantasy A-the Rapper/Writer Whose Flyers Are All Over Town.")

The Folks Project
The Folks Project, a side collective of local talents D'Vonne Lewis, Darrius Willrich, Evan Flory-Barnes, and Owour Arunga, pay tribute to the legacy of jazz culture and music that came out of the Central District, honoring artists like Quincy Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Ernestine Anderson, Floyd Sandiford, Buddy Catlett, and Anthony Ray, whom you may know as Sir Mix-A-Lot. KIM SELLING
(Originally appeared in a February 2020 Triple Door show preview , arecording of which is available on Bandcamp.)

Gifted Gab
Gifted Gab is one of the best rappers in the game, period. Her lyrics and flow are incisive, precise, even gravity altering. On 4/20 (ay!), Gab released her latest album, Cause & Effect, which only solidified her exalted status here in her native city. On "AND 1/Hurricane G," Gab is out for blood. "He Gon' Roll" finds the Central District rapper instructing a lover about how to roll a joint over a sensuous beat. Gifted Gab is the king and the queen MC of Seattle. JASMYNE KEIMIG
(Originally appeared in an April 2019 Crocodile show preview . She also featured in Lester Black's 2018 piece, "Getting High with Gifted Gab and Thunderpussy at the Gorge." She has a new album, Talk About It, coming out June 26 with her new rap duo project, Blimes & Gab.)

Grace Love
Seattle vocalist/lyricist Grace Love is best known for her time fronting the True Loves, a powerful group of soul/R&B revivalists who made a big splash around town throughout the 2010s. Her new project, Grace Love & Reset, veers into slightly different territory. Their self-titled debut album is a well-oiled hedonism machine whose every moment is geared toward facilitating romance and sex. So, it's the ideal Valentine's Day sonic artifact, and the local We Coast label perfectly timed its appearance for this most conflicted of holidays. DAVE SEGAL
(Excerpted from an Inbox Jukebox column from Valentine's Day 2020).

Guayaba
Pulling from hella goth lineage (the horror and pleasure of 19th-century phantasmagorias), local musician Guayaba's latest record, Fantasmagoría, reflects their Afro-Latinx roots as well as their keen eye for the world that runs just parallel to this one, that consists of our desires and deepest fears. As such, their album encompasses genres like horrorcore, bossa nova, psychedelia, and hip-hop, as Guayaba raps in both Spanish and English, creating a sonic world ripe enough in which to see your own soul's surreal reflection. JASMYNE KEIMIG

Industrial Revelation
Jazz is now considered America's classical music-meaning, it's music for institutions like the university and the museum. That's not how Industrial Revelation think of jazz. The group has four members-D'Vonne Lewis (drums), Evan Flory-Barnes (bass), Josh Rawlings (keyboards), and Ahamefule J. Oluo (trumpet). All are trained primarily as jazz musicians and play in a number of jazz bands and venues around town. However, IR's 2013 album Oak Head makes it clear that when these four men make music together, they cannot be classified as a jazz band. IR have a sound that is not determined by one genre, but instead is overdetermined by multiple genres-hiphop, indie rock, punk, soul, and so on. But here is what makes IR truly unique and worthy of the status of Stranger Genius: Their mission as musicians is not to save jazz or to be relevant to younger audiences. Absent from their live shows and two albums is exactly that kind of desperation and scheming. What we hear instead are tunes composed and performed by four very talented musicians who are naturally, effortlessly, constantly inventive. CHARLES MUDEDE
(Excerpted from a 2014 profile of the band when they were nominated for the Stranger Genius Award, which they later won).

JusMoni
Beacon Hill native JusMoni (aka Moni Tep) is bringing her dreamy, R&B-inflected tunes back to her home turf. On 2018's , her voice-sweet and ethereal-transports you to other dimensions on spacey, bass-heavy "Linked In," much different from the corporate hellscape that its named for. "Got It on Tape" features the one and only Stas THEE Boss, where JusMoni's voice floats like smoke over tight electric guitar and Stas raps deftly over the retro beat. JASMYNE KEIMIG
(Excerpted from a March 2019 Clock-Out Lounge show preview).

Kimya Dawson
Kimya is a celebrated writer and singer of songs and an all-purpose force for good in the world. First making her artistic mark as half of the antifolk duo the Moldy Peaches, Kimya soon turned to solo work, where the twisted punchline poetry of the Peaches was deployed in the service of Dawson's gem-like personal narratives, creating such singular works as I'm Sorry That Sometimes I'm Mean (2002), My Cute Fiend Sweet Princess (2004), Hidden Vagenda (2004), Remember That I Love You (2006), and Thunder Thighs (2011), and earning her a 2009 Grammy for her work on the soundtrack for the film Juno. More recently, she joined forces with hiphop artist Aesop Rock to form the Uncluded, whose debut record Hokey Fright was released to critical acclaim in 2013. She frequently tours the world, often with her kid Panda by her side.
(Excerpted from a June 4, 2020 Message to the City).

Knife Knights
Knife Knights is essentially a project by two wonderful musical minds, that of Ishmael Butler and Erik Blood. The two first met in 2003-but in 2009, Blood produced and mixed the two debut EPs by Shabazz Palaces (a duo made up of Butler and Tendai Maraire, read more below). In 2017, Blood and Butler finally came together in Knife Knights, which is less a cultural/music project like Shabazz Palaces and more of an exploration of sound itself, like Explosions in the Sky. With Knife Knights, one gets lost in the infinities of processed and reprocessed music. CHARLES MUDEDE
(Originally appeared in an October 2019 Langston Hughes show preview . Read more about them in Gregory Scruggs's profile from last fall, "Knife Knights' Medieval Futurism.")

Kung Foo Grip
The MCs of Kirkland's Kung Foo Grip-the Afro'd Greg Cypher and the dread-shaking Eff Is H-are classic-minded, upper-range-voiced spitters in the vein of prime-time Hiero, but they're no real-rap revivalists. Since their quickly embraced appearance as teens upon the scene some years back, they've been as committed to progression as they have to their incendiary live presentation. Their production has morphed from jazzy loops and boom bap to cloudy trap, their couplets from merely impressive rhymes to naked emotion (particularly on 2013's Growing Up in the Future), they've never once sounded out of their lane, always honed their trajectory, always remained fans first of the area's illest shit-very based. LARRY MIZELL JR.
(Originally appeared in a 2019 Capitol Hill Block Party show preview .)

Lil Mosey
Seattle native Lil Mosey released his first bedroom-made track on SoundCloud, and he's been raking in fans ever since. KIM SELLING
(Originally appeared in a 2019 Showbox show preview .)

Medejin
Led by vocalist/guitarist Jenn Taranto, Seattle quartet Medejin have been creating beautiful, ethereal rock for over a decade. Their more recent recordings have leaned toward the Angel Olsen/Weyes Blood/Shana Cleveland school of poetic songcraft that delicately probes intimate emotional terrain. Medejin's new single, "World's Fair," is probably their most engaging and fully realized song to date. As drummer Matthew Cooke tattoos the skins with a complex pattern, guitarists Rebecca Gutterman and Taranto pluck a constellation of gorgeous spangles. Taranto's voice is a silky, languorous delight, and the whole thing recalls Cocteau Twins, but without the booming beats and million-dollar production values. "World's Fair" is a dreamy sigh of a song. DAVE SEGAL
(Excerpted from an August 2019 Inbox Jukebox. Read more about them in AJ Dent's December 2019 piece, "Medejin Premiere a New Video for 'World's Fair.'")

Mirrorgloss
Originally a quartet encompassing guitar and drums, Mirrorgloss underwent a series of lineup changes that eventually led to their current incarnation as a duo, though it wasn't easy to get here. Their latest release, 2017's Something New EP (Swoon Records), is a five-track collection of dance songs about breaking up, falling in love, and moving on. The title track is a thumping ode to a rebound, "It Goes" is a thoughtful disco cut about losing oneself on the dancefloor, and "Heartbreak Roadtrip" recounts the beginnings of a relationship that feels doomed from the start. It's not difficult to understand the duo's growing popularity when you sit down with them. Both women immediately come off as the kind of friends you'd want to have-bold, caring, unpretentious. They speak loudly and without hesitation. Both of them are excruciatingly funny. Their sheer presence, you suspect, would make you feel unstoppable on a dance floor or while trying to talk to your crush at a function. SAM CHAPMAN
(Excerpted from a January 2018 piece, "Mirrorgloss Serves Charisma and Confidence with Electro-Pop Flavor.")

Mista DC
Sorry We Lost You is a stunning debut for musician MistaDC. The Tri-Cities native's recent musical efforts even caught the eye of Ebro, an Apple Music DJ, who played "Get Out," a song off the new album, during a segment on the Beats 1 radio show, telling the now-Seattle-based rapper, "I like your waves." "Waves" or "wavy" encapsulates DC's music better than any other label could. D'Angelo-meets-Badu-meets-Daniel-Caesar-meets-a-guitar is a mouthful. So is indie-neo-soul-R&B-hip-hop. And who likes to be hemmed in by the discographies of other singers anyway? Or some arbitrary system of categorization that's been used to separate artists based on skin color? I love a musician that eschews genre. That's why "wavy"-rhythmic, constant, all-consuming-seems to capture what makes DC's music so damn good. Listening to it is like the best body high, the type that blooms in your chest then spreads to your shoulders, relaxing you into the sound. JASMYNE KEIMIG
(Excerpted from a January 2019 piece, "MistaDC's Debut Album Is Wavy as Fuck.")

Naomi Wachira
Wachira's understatedly powerful songs of resilience, identity, and empowerment would seem to be the perfect fit for a night about internal strength, without ever getting preachy or melodramatic about it. It doesn't hurt that she's got a wallop of a voice, all the better to deliver her casually catchy ballads. KYLE FLECK
(Originally appeared in an October 2017 Jazz Alley show preview.)

OCnotes (Tucson via Seattle)
Years ago, OCnotes, a musician and sound engineer whose reputation is huge in Seattle's hiphop scene, conducted an experiment in his basement studio in the OK Hotel in Pioneer Square. In a small space filled with people drinking wine and beer in the semidarkness, he projected on a white wall fragments of one of the strangest movies of the 1970s, The Wiz, which stars Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. The original Motown soundtrack of The Wiz, however, was replaced by a spacey, dreamy stream of beats produced by OCnotes (the professional moniker for Otis Calvin III). He had not only completely remixed the original soundtrack but also the images and scenes of the blackened musical. The result of this work, called Emerald City Sequence, was 25 minutes of pure magic in what I can only describe as Notes's cave. The feeling of liberation experienced while watching and listening to Emerald is consistent not only with OCnotes's politics but his whole approach to music, which can range from the rawness of punk to the impressionism of house music. The rawness comes from his early identification with skateboard culture and the impressions from his musical education in the choirs of black churches in Tacoma, where he was raised by parents in the military. After completing his official education in sound engineering in Arizona at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences, Notes opened his studio in the OK Hotel in the '00s. It's here that he produced the stream of beats that established his name locally. CHARLES MUDEDE
(Excerpted from a June 2015 profile, when OCnotes received a Stranger Genius Award. Read more about him in Trent Moorman's March 2015 piece, "Seattle's OCnotes Aims Deep on Color Wheel, His Best Record Yet.")

Otieno Terry
For the musician featured on tracks with local and high-grossing rappers Macklemore and Sol, along with indie stars like Gabriel Teodros, Otieno Terry, winner of the 2014 Seattle Sound Off competition, is now taking the mic unaccompanied. It's a way of showing the world that he can be the main attraction, not just the support. With a voice like Bruno Mars mixed with Prince and a rap flow like Pharrell, Terry lands another stellar project onto the Seattle terrain, as if a UFO touching down at the base of the Space Needle, opening up its doors, and its driver saying, "Check this out!" before a mesmerizing light display. JAKE UITTI
(Originally appeared in a 2018 Upstream show preview. Read more about him in Jake's 2017 piece, "Seattle R&B Singer and 2014 Sound Off! Winner Otieno Terry's "Jaguar Stupid" Hints at a Great Debut LP.")

Parisalexa
Parisalexa first nabbed my attention (and my heart, tbh) when she sang "Cashitis" in the semifinals of Sound Off! 2016, an annual music competition at the Museum of Pop Culture. She gave a pitch-perfect vocal, wielded it perfectly, and showed an obvious knack for creating organic, intuitive song structures. To this day, I still get chills. So I've been waiting patiently for Parisalexa's star to rise (and subsequently explode into the mainstream consciousness), and I think it might finally be that time. Her KEXP set from last year was an impressive, jazzy delight; in October she appeared on NBC's Songland, pitching her song "Pity Party" to Charlie Puth and wowing all the judges in the process. JENNI MOORE
(Excerpted from a January 2020 piece, "Parisalexa Is in Bloom and Deserves Our Attention." She'll appear in a livestreamed concert on Friday, June 5 to benefit Black Lives Matter.)

Perry Porter
Seattle-based rapper-painter Perry Porter's second album, Bobby Ro$$, pulls audio clips from black painters like Kerry James Marshall and Carrie Mae Weems, and weaves them into his songs to create a vivid musical portrait of Porter's visual inspirations. It's dope as fuck. JASMYNE KEIMIG
(Originally appeared in a November 2019 Crocodile show preview .)

Pink Lotion (LA via Seattle)
Let's not beat around the bush: Pink Lotion's debut release, , is an orgy of late-night, boudoir-bound funk. Imagine a languorous four-way among Prince, Parliament, Brides of Funkenstein, and Patrice Rushen, and you have an idea of how these six tracks Astroglide® through your sensorium. Track titles such as "Sex on Mars," "Slick Inside," and "Moisturebate" telegraph the intentions of Erik Blood (Shabazz Palaces, Knife Knights) and Rachael Ferguson ( NightraiN, Clutch Douglas): they want to help you get laid. You'd be churlish to refuse such a magnanimous offering. DAVE SEGAL
(Excerpted from a January 2020 Inbox Jukebox Track of the Day.)

Porter Ray
Once dubbed "the golden child" by Shabazz Palaces' Ishmael Butler, the kid Porter Ray Sullivan is grown, and, as a matter of fact, has been older in spirit than his youthful face and shimmering soprano have let on all along. The late-20s Seattle MC compounds nocturnal ruminations on past traumas and altered toasts to the high life's seductive mirage. "MLK, Rainier, shit just ain't the same here/I fantasize of foreign flights, foreign women snortin' white," he raps on "Bless Me"-"may all my pain be champagne." Ray has a lot to say, and a million ways to say it, and each verse he writes only lifts him toward the heights he dreams of. TODD HAMM
(Originally appeared in a November 2017 Tractor Tavern show preview. Read more about his debut LP, Watercolor, in Amber Cortes's March 2017 profile.)

Raz Simone
Solomon Samuel "Raz" Simone is a Seattle rapper who in another life would've probably been a preacher or a bluesman-his penchant for gold jewelry would befit either. His recorded voice creaks like an unoiled barn door, his stark lyrics, dark subject matter, and musical arrangements lend him a gravitas both worldly and consecrated. Raz's raps are unfailingly dead-serious and personal, sharply ricocheting off race, gentrification, and gun violence (just to pick a few) on the way to the hook. His forthrightness on the issues this city is going through give his words an urgency that's lacking throughout the scene. His tendency toward big, string-heavy orchestral backdrops reminds one of a couple other well-known Seattleites; there's Kurt Cobain-in particular the pained covers of Lead Belly and Meat Puppets from the MTV Unplugged performance-and, of course, Macklemore. Raz, a local fan favorite with a growing national following, went hard against the grain in 2015, spending a lot of it shaking up Seattle rap's mostly picturesque snow globe by actively targeting Macklemore and Sol, the vanguard of local posi-rap. LARRY MIZELL JR.
(Excerpted from a December 2015 piece, "Raz Simone Isn't Trying to Be the Greatest Rapper of All Time-He's Just Trying to Drive Home." Read more about him in Jake Uitti's 2017 piece, "Seattle Rap Altruist Raz Simone Methodically Builds a Musical Empire in Sodo." Thursday morning's Slog AM also includes video of Raz leading the protest crowd on a megaphone, deescalating tension and providing needed energy.)

Romaro Franceswa
On his most recent release, Ro, Federal Way rapper Romaro Franceswa speaks of both the trap house and the church. He bridges the gap between these two selves over vibey trap beats, calling out fakes on "Loose" and bringing gospel-inspired runs on "Blessings." JASMYNE KEIMIG
(Originally appeared in a November 2019 Crocodile show preview . Read more about him in Larry Mizell Jr.'s November 2015 piece, "Romaro Franceswa's Near-Perfect Balance.")

Sango
If you're not into Sango yet, that's tragic as hell because it means you missed one of the best releases of 2016. Seattle-based, Brazilian-influenced, and Soulection-cut producer Sango teamed up with local heavy hitter Dave B. for Tomorrow, an album notable not only for Dave B.'s hazy harmonies and elastic bars, but for Sango's capacity to lay down a Seattle-specific, and thus instantly classic, sound, as well as pull emotional tangibility out of seemingly minimalist design. For baffling reasons, Seattle is rarely heralded as a quality source for ground-up hiphop (as we're remarked on usually only for our pop-culture crossovers like Macklemore or Sir Mix-A-Lot), but Sango's work alone should prove to change that with releases like Tomorrow, Hours Spent Loving You, his collaborative album with Xavier Omär that also dropped last year, and his upcoming solo album, In the Comfort Of. KIM SELLING
(Originally appeared in a January 2017 Showbox show preview.)

SassyBlack
A graduate of Cornish College of the Arts, Sassy, aka Catherine Harris-White, who first started performing in clubs at 18, hit the public consciousness in 2008 with her hip-hop duo, THEESatisfaction, releasing two records on Sub Pop. Since, she has fostered a solo career, writing and producing all of her music and releasing 11 projects since 2015-with melodies often compared to Herbie Hancock and a voice often compared to Sarah Vaughan. Sassy released her third record, Ancient Mahogany Gold, in the fall of 2019. As she says in her Message to the City, she's been using her library card to find resources online, and she's been reading a lot-Walter Mosley, Octavia Butler. "And I'm obsessed with Malcolm Gladwell."
(Excerpted from SassyBlack's Message to the City from May 20. Sassy will also host a livestreamed event on Saturday, June 20.)

Sol
Seattle prodigal son Sol continually re-emerges on the PNW scene throughout the years with surprise track bundle drops, essential humanitarian actions, and underwhelming beef with other local notables, but he always manages to make time for the occasional high-energy, sunshine-filled set in the city that raised him. KIM SELLING
(Originally appeared in an April 2019 Showbox show preview . Read more about him in Charles Mudede's June 2012 piece, "Sol on a World Tour.")

Specswizard
Perpetually and unjustly under the radar, Seattle MC/producer Specswizard raps like he's confiding in you in a private spot and trusting you to savor his words and take them to heart. His productions subtly twist golden-age-hiphop beatmaking into more subdued and warped realms, but he's also fond of going expansively orchestral, like any true appreciator of David Axelrod. Back in 2010 in The Stranger, I wrote, "Specs exudes a confidence that doesn't need bellowing, chest-pounding, and nut-grabbing to make its impact felt. His sly braggadocio rides mostly laid-back, funky foundations that are marbled with wonky keyboard tones and unconventional samples, often lifted from prog-rock wax." In other words, Specs is defiantly out of step with modern hiphop... but you know, he hasn't given a fuck about that for over two decades. He's not about to jump on any fashionable bandwagons now. DAVE SEGAL
(Excerpted from an October 2018 Inbox Jukebox.)

Stas THEE Boss
Seattle hiphop is in capable, diverse hands-if this bill is any indication. Stas THEE Boss, of course, formed half of one of Seattle's deepest and most pleasurable rap/R&B units, THEESatisfaction, as their two Sub Pop LPs proved. Stas has continued to grow as a solo artist, with the excellent , whose lyrics Stranger freelancer Jake Uitti deemed "noble, poignant, and revelatory." DAVE SEGAL
(Originally appeared in an October 2018 Nectar show preview. Dave Segal also highlighted Stas in a 2017 Spun Out column.)

Taylar Elizza Beth
In the rap game, often the loudest voice with the most brawn behind it gets the attention. In Seattle, though, there's a new wave of emcees preparing to flood the market. At the forefront is White Center's Taylar Elizza Beth (aka Taylar White), a loquacious but soft-spoken talent looking to sonically solidify a new space for herself in the Seattle hip-hop movement. JAKE UITTI
(Excerpted from a May 2017 piece, "Taylar Elizza Beth Puts the Fresh into Her New EP, Fresh Cut Flowers.")

Tiffany Wilson
Wilson moved from Memphis to Washington when she was very young. At 19, she signed with Hendrix Records and toured with the Seattle-based gospel group SOUL. After that she moved to L.A., where she worked as a singer and songwriter. When she moved back to Washington in 2009 she released Music Therapy, which was composed of a lot of the songs she was working on in California. [At the time of writing] she's about to go on tour with 2016's #SeeSharp, an record that marks a political turn in her songwriting. RICH SMITH
(Excerpted from an October 2017 piece, "Seattle Singer Tiffany Wilson Talks About Funk's Power to Change Minds." Her new single, "Hollywood," is out now.)

OTHER NOTABLE BLACK ARTISTS

We haven't written about these artists yet.

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Support Black Music: A Guide to the Seattle Artists You Should Be Streaming Right Now - EverOut Seattle

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Supporting black artists (and black-owned businesses) is essential every day, and Seattle is brimming with talented black performers and bands that Stranger critics have written about again and again, from sibling duo the Black Tones to jazz institution Industrial Revelation to young star Parisalexa.

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Ellender seated with her daughter, Susan. Enlarge image

Ellender Penelope "Nellie" Mathews (1799-1882)

Nellie was reportedly born on the Mask Plantation, North Carolina in 1799, the child of a young slave and her owner, Dudley Mask. It is assumed that Nellie worked as a domestic on the plantation as a young woman. She bore five children in North Carolina. The three oldest children are recorded as the offspring of her owner, and father, Dudley Byron Mask. Some records indicate that her younger children, Drury and Mary Ann's father was actually Drury Matthis who resided on a nearby plantation. Because marriage with slaves was illegal, and in most cases marriage between free persons of different races was also illegal, marriage records to confirm this information do not exist.

Accounts indicate that Nellie and her children were freed when Dudley Mask died in 1830. An 1830 census record listing free colored persons shows Eleander (sic) Matthis, a female between the age 24 and 35, and two females under the age of 10 in her household. North Carolina prohibited freed slaves from remaining in the state for more than 90 days, so the family appears to have moved to Tennessee. Sometime in the 1840's, they moved to Missouri and in her mid-fifties, Nellie undertook the long migration to Oregon with her extended family.

Nellie is listed in the census from 1850 to 1880 as living in the household of her oldest son John. Her race is indicated as "M" for Mulatto in most census entries except 1860 when she is listed as "Black". She died in 1882 and is buried in the John Mathews Pioneer Cemetery in Eagle Point, Oregon.

The Butte Creek Mill was built in 1872 in Eagle Point, during the time that Ellender Mathews was in the area. Enlarge image

The actor Ty Burrell is a descendant of Nellie and a 2016 segment of PBS's "Finding Your Roots" featured the relationship and the stories passed down through his family about this slave ancestor.

Nellie's Children

1) John Mathews (1816-1885)

2) Dudley Mathews (1821-1847)

3) Susanna Mathews (1823-1909)

4) Drury Mathews (1826-1905)

5) Mary Ann/Amanda Mathews (1828-1905)

6) William (1836-n.d.) was born in Tennessee but his father is not listed.

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Ellender Penelope "Nellie" Mathews (1799-1882) Nellie was reportedly born on the Mask Plantation, North Carolina in 1799, the child of a young slave and her owner, Dudley Mask. It is assumed that Nellie worked as a domestic on the plantation as a young woman. She bore five children in North Carolina.

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Public domain image, Courtesy Henderson House

As one of the earliest permanent American settlers on Puget Sound in 1845, George Bush played a vital role in the beginnings of Washington Territory. Bush's story is even more remarkable because he was a man of mixed race who overcame prejudice and discrimination to succeed as one of the area's most beloved figures.

Little is known of Bush's early life. It is believed that his father was Mathew Bush, a West Indian who married the Irish maid of a wealthy Quaker family in Pennsylvania. George Bush married Isabella James, a white American of German ancestry, on July 4, 1831, in St. Louis, Missouri. They became the parents of nine sons, six of whom survived to adulthood.

Facing prejudice in the slave state of Missouri and hoping for a better future for their sons, the family joined the westward migration to the Oregon country in 1844 with their friends and neighbors. Several months later, when they reached The Dalles on the lower Columbia River, they learned that the Oregon Provisional Government had passed a Black Exclusion Law. The Bush family and his neighbors did not go to the Rogue River Valley as originally intended but settled instead at Fort Vancouver, on the north side of the Columbia River in what is now Washington. The exclusion law, coupled with the desire of the settlers to secure an American foothold north of the Columbia, persuaded Bush and his party to move north to Puget Sound since enforcement of this law was limited to American settlements south of the Columbia.

The five families and six single men now known as the Simmons Party arrived at the Deschutes River falls in October, 1845 and established "New Market," the first permanent American settlement on the Puget Sound. The name was later changed to Tumwater, and the area became a part of the United States when the boundary line with Great Britain was settled in 1846. Tumwater is south of and adjacent to Olympia, the state capital of Washington.

Bush built the first grist mill and saw mill in 1846 and 1847. He also quickly established a fine farm on the prairie south of the Deschutes Falls. Their right to the homestead was challenged in 1850 when the Donation Land Claim Act provided free land exclusively to white settlers. A petition signed by fifty-five members of the first Territorial Legislature in 1854, and an Act of Congress the following year, allowed Bush and his wife the right to own their land. Bush, however, was not allowed to vote. George Bush died in 1863 at the age of 74, and was followed by his wife, Isabella, in 1866.

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As one of the earliest permanent American settlers on Puget Sound in 1845, George Bush played a vital role in the beginnings of Washington Territory. Bush's story is even more remarkable because he was a man of mixed race who overcame prejudice and discrimination to ... Read MoreGeorge Bush (ca.

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 Hanford worker Luzell Johnson's Interview

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 Hanford worker Luzell Johnson's Interview

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[At top is the edited version of the interview published by S. L. Sanger in Working on the Bomb: An Oral History of WWII Hanford, Portland State University, 1995. For the full transcript that matches the audio of the interview, please scroll down.] Book version:
I was working in Mobile, Alabama, at a creosote plant, 35 cents an hour. I heard about the job out at Hanford, you could get tires and gas to come out here, from Du Pont. I was classified 1-A in the draft. By the time I got to Hanford in the spring of '44, I had my draft call, and I went to the office and they got me a deferment.

I knew something about concrete work, and I became a cement finisher. After the laborers poured it, we finished it. Before that, the laborers had dug it out and leveled, the next crew was the pouring crew, next was us. We worked with trowels, 12-inch trowels and 18-inch trowels. I made $1.75 an hour, six days a week, eight hours.

I lived in the barracks, they was segregated, blacks from whites. There were quite a few blacks working out there, laborers, lots of them in the concrete department, and quite a few in the mess halls, cooks and waitresses. The barracks was kinda exciting. I didn't drink. My roommate drank, and he gambled. I was disturbed all through the night.

And, every weekend, there was somebody coming through with goods, through the barracks, you understand that? Prostitutes. They would start at the head of the barracks, put a girl in a room. They would come through and ask, room by room if we was interested. They got $10. Since we worked six days, usually they come through on Sundays.

There weren' t no restriction on gambling. Shooting craps was the main thing. Professionals ran the games. I imagine they had card games too, but they was kinda private. With craps, anyone could come in. My roommate would run a game some night, and I would go somewhere else.

I didn' t run into much racism at Hanford. Everybody was working together, and everybody was eating together at the mess halls. White and colored could go in together and eat. I didn't go to the beer halls, I didn't drink beer, so I didn't have no experience with that.

Everybody played baseball together, the teams was black and white. I played baseball, there was pretty good ball players from all over the country. Like on Memorial Day some big team from back East would come out and play the best Hanford players. The professionals usually won. I played center field, not regularly. The manager would play maybe me this week and some-body else next week. The catchers and the pitchers and the first baseman and shortstop were regular, all the others traded off.

When my wife come out, she lived in a room in one of the old farm-houses on the reservation. I had saved $700, and we drove around and found a trailer at the trailer camp for $600 and some dollars. We bought it, and moved in. Hanford was a big town, like. Everything was there. Banks, drug stores, grocery stores. We went to the stores and went back to the trailer and my wife cooked. After she started cooking, I hardly ate in the mess halls.

I was a little surprised when the bombs were dropped. When I got back to Alabama, they knew more about Hanford than I did. That's what you all was making, they said, something to kill people. That shocked me.

They laid us off after construction was finished, and give us certificates for tires and stamps for gas so we could go back where we come from. I went back to Alabama. I didn't do anything there because the pay scale was what it was when I left, 35 cents an hour. The same as I was making when I left Mobile. They said I could have my old job back at the creosote plant, but I decided to come back out here, where I was getting $1.75.
Full Transcript:
S. L. Sanger: This is an interview with Luzell Johnson at his residence in Pasco August 6, 1986. Now, you said that you were born in Alabama?

Luzell Johnson: That's right.

Sanger: Mobile.

Johnson: Banksburg yes, about 100 miles out from Mobile. Mobile is the biggest town.

Sanger: Oh, what's the town?

Johnson: Lynchburg.

Sanger: Where's that? Is that up North further?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: Then, how old are you?

Johnson: Seventy-five.

Sanger: How did you happen to get our here?

Johnson: Well, it was - they had recruiting.

Sanger: Yes. Where were you working?

Johnson: Before I came out here?

Sanger: Yes.

Johnson: I was working in Mobile.

Sanger: Oh.

Johnson: At a creosote plant.

Sanger: Not a war plant?

Johnson: No, sir.

Sanger: They came around recruiting or what?

Johnson: Yes, I heard about it and so we could get tires and gas to come out here. So.

Sanger: Is that DuPont that was doing that?

Johnson: That's right. Yes, DuPont.

Sanger: Yes. You were what, a little old to be drafted, or what?

Johnson: No, I was drafted.

Sanger: Oh, you were?

Johnson: I mean, I was in 1A.

Sanger: Yes, so you were about ready to go, I suppose.

Johnson: I was ready to go. Yes. The place where I was at-by the time I got to Hanford, I had been classed from 3A to 1A when I heard my call. And so I went to the office and they got me on that job.

Sanger: Oh, I see. You got a deferment with that?

Johnson: Yes that's what happened, yes.

Sanger: How did you get out here? You drove out or what?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: With a bunch of other guys or what? Then when you got here, you went out what? Where they would go out to the site, and then you got signed up and so on?

Johnson: That's right.

Sanger: Then you went into concrete? Had you done that sort of work before?

Johnson: Not all the time. I knew about it, just. Yes.

Sanger: So then, you lived in the barracks I suppose, right?

Johnson: That's right.

Sanger: And, those were segregated? Do you remember?

Johnson: Well, yes.

Sanger: Yes.

Johnson: It was black from then on. Yes. It was segregated.

Sanger: Were there quite a few black guys working out there?

Johnson: Yes there was.

Sanger: What were they mostly in? What sort of work?

Johnson: Labor.

Sanger: And what concrete, and that sort of thing?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: I know that in the histories I've read, there were barracks or living quarters for, I think that it was almost 3,000 blacks, and I guess that that must have been pretty much full? Did you? When you're working in concrete like you were doing, what exactly were you doing?

Johnson: Well, we were finishing. I was.

Sanger: You mean, smoothing it and all of that?

Johnson: Yes, "cement finisher" was the name of that.

Sanger: What does that exactly mean? What'd you do?

Johnson: Well, after the laborers poured it in, we conditioned it and finished it. Then, after the walls were finished, we plugged the she-bolt holes.

Sanger: Oh. And the guys who were conditioning? What does that mean?

Johnson: That was the pouring crew. You had a crew we called the "pouring crew." They did concrete. Concrete was poured out into the on surface where it's going to be finished - that was called the pouring crew. The first thing that happened is that the laborers would come along and condition it. So they'd dig the dirt out and level it off and everything. The next crew would be the pouring crew. They'd come through. And, the next would be the cement finishers.

Sanger: And then, what'd you do there?

Johnson: I was a cement finisher.

Sanger: Yes. What kind of tools would you have for that?

Johnson: Trowel, margins trowel. Yes, twelve-inch trowel and an eighteen-inch trowel.

Sanger: Was that more money?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: How much did you make? Do you remember?

Johnson: Well it was $1.75.

Sanger: $1.75?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: Do you remember how much? You worked quite a bit of overtime, I suppose?

Johnson: No.

Sanger: Not much?

Johnson: No overtime.

Sanger: No?

Johnson: Because we had a shift we'd go 7:00 to 3:30 or either 4:30, just eight hours.

Sanger: Five days or was it six days?

Johnson: Six days.

Sanger: Six days a week. When did you get out there originally?

Johnson: It was in the spring of '44.

Sanger: Do you know which? Where'd you work first, which area?

Johnson: 100-F.

Sanger: 100-F?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: What shape was that in when you got there? Had they just started it?

Johnson: It was pretty well-some of the construction and the brick work was already done.

Sanger: Yes.

Johnson: They were just pouring the floors and [00:06:00] different places around.

Sanger: Yes. Were you working in the reactor area or this outlying building?

Johnson: It was one of the reactor buildings we were working on.

Sanger: Yes. And then, how long did you stay out in the construction during that time? Until '45, or what?

Johnson: Yes. I stayed out there until just before D-Day.

Sanger: Yes.

Johnson: They laid us off and gave us stamps for tires and stamps for gas for us to go back to where we came from.

Sanger: Oh, and then you did that?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: Where'd you go then?

Johnson: Alabama.

Sanger: So, that would've been what? Just after the end of the war or just before?

Johnson: Yes. Just before the war won you got laid off. But when I got down there, was V-Day, declared V-Day, so those stamps and things were no good after that.

Sanger: Oh, is that right? Well, what'd you do when you went back to Alabama then?

Johnson: I didn't do anything because the [wage] scales were still what they were when I left there.

Sanger: You mean pay?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: Not very good?

Johnson: No, $.35 an hour. And then after I got back there, it was the same thing. It was just the same, so I decided I'd come back out here. So I come.

Sanger: Oh, so you were making $1.75 out here compared to $.35 in Alabama? As far as a black man working out here, was it better than back there as far as conditions and treatment and all of that was concerned?

Johnson: I wouldn't say that the conditions were any better actually because I thought it was a little different when we were out in the area. But after I came back, I went to working with cement finishers out here and I found out that it was, if anything, it was worse because anywhere a job was at back there we all could work together. We worked together. Of course we worked together after I came back, and I didn't see anybody. I guess what I'm trying to say is we working up here on this ditch line in Pasco. And after we got through this ditch line we [inaudible]. It was just one black man in the group. Every place that we went in they would refuse to serve me.

Sanger: You mean like a café or something.

Johnson: I figured that all of that was over with.

Sanger: That would've been when, '46 or something or later?

Johnson: Yes 1946.

Sanger: Yes.

Johnson: But I had good cooperation with the fellow who I was working for. We'd go in, and they'd say they couldn't serve [00:09:00] me. They'd say that I'm sorry. I can't serve him. All of us would get up and walk out.

Sanger: The white guys? You mean, the other workers?

Johnson: The white workers.

Sanger: Who you were working with?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: So then, what would happen?

Johnson: Well, I guess. The word got around. By the time we got to the next place, they probably had called and told them what these fellows were doing and started serving them.

Sanger: Oh. What in the South, though, I mean all of the black guys would tend to work together, huh? So, you'd go to places like for lunch or something where it was-

Johnson: Well, you know that we couldn't go any white places.

Sanger: Yes, but here it was more uncertainty.

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: What about during the war when you were out at Hanford? Did you run into much racism there?

Johnson: No, because everybody was working together and everybody was eating together. We had this mess hall called mess hall five, mess hall one and number two. The white and colored would go in there together and eat.

Sanger: Did they?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: So the only real kind of separation was in the barracks, huh?

Johnson: Yes, they had them separated.

Sanger: So then as far as what? Did you go in the rec halls or the beer halls at all?

Johnson: No. I didn't go to the beer hall. I didn't drink beer. So, I did not have experience on that.

Sanger: Yes. Recreation, what about that? Like baseball and so on, was that integrated?

Johnson: Yes. Everybody would play together. The teams were black and white.

Sanger: Did you take part in any of that?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: What, baseball?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: The concrete people had their own team or what?

Johnson: Well, it was a mixed team, the laborers and all the other folks. There were pretty good ball players from all over the country there and when they were working out, the best ones, they would get them. Some big team from back East would come out and play.

Sanger: Oh, is that right?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: Who would usually win?

Johnson: The professionals.

Sanger: Which team did you play for?

Johnson: I played for the Hanford team.

Sanger: What'd you play?

Johnson: Centerfield.

Sanger: You mean, regularly?

Johnson: Not regularly. There were too many. The manager, he would play maybe me this week and maybe somebody else. The catchers and the pitchers and the first baseman, they were regular.

Sanger: Oh, I see. How old were you when you were out there during the war?

Johnson: Well, I must've been about twenty-seven, something like that.

Sanger: One of the Dupont people said that one of the baseball teams out there, I think that it was the Riggers, they were constantly losing. And so, the next time they went around to recruit some people all they recruited were Civic-Coast League players. And, they came back and they went right up to the top of the standings. Had you played quite a bit of baseball before?

Johnson: No, nothing but sandlots. No. There was none.

Sanger: Did you ever go back to Hanford to work after that?

Johnson: Yes. I went back as a bricklayer.

Sanger: Oh. That during the other construction period after the war?

Johnson: After the war.

Sanger: Where did you work?

Johnson: 100-N. That's the biggest job I worked on, 100-N out there and also the 300-Area, I'd worked quite a few jobs there.

Sanger: Oh, did you?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: Well, did you retire from out there?

Johnson: No, I retired from The Bricklayers' Union.

Sanger: So, you got into bricklaying later. And then, got in the union and then worked around other various jobs?

Johnson: I had a cement-finishing card from Alabama. The cement-finishing in Alabama had the same local as The Bricklayers' Union, so I didn't have any problem getting into the Bricklayers' Union. All that I had to do is have my book paid up on Dothan, Alabama. That's where the union is. You have to break into the union here, and they accepted. But, I didn't have the experience of bricklaying like I should. So, I had to get worked up on that, and get into. But, that's what I retired from.

Sanger: Once you came back in '46, you stayed here then?

Johnson: I came back in '45.

Sanger: Oh, in '45, you came back.

Johnson: After V-Day, and I went to the plant where they told I could have my job back.

Sanger: That creosote plant?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: In Mobile?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: You had found out you were going to make $.35 an hour?

Johnson: My wife wasn't going to like it back there either, she thought she was going to like it back there. When we went, we thought that we were going to like it, but things were. The money was the main thing.

Sanger: Yes, that's ridiculous isn't it?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: What were you making when you came back then?

Johnson: I was making $1.75. But after I got into the Bricklayers, it was a little more.

Sanger: Now you lived in the barracks, I suppose, during the war?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: What was that like?

Johnson: Well it was all kind of exciting. I was living in the barracks, and I didn't drink. My room buddy drank and he gambled. And that would disturb me all through the night and stuff like that.

Sanger: Yes, I mean, noise and carousing and so on?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: Yes, go ahead.

Johnson: Every weekend there would be somebody coming through with girls. They would come up through the barracks. Well, you understand that I guess.

Sanger: With what?

Johnson: Prostitutes.

Sanger: Oh, they did? How did they handle that? They just came through or what?

Johnson: They would start at the head of the barracks, they'd put the girls in there. I don't know what happened to the men, but they would come through when no one asked them to.

Sanger: Oh, is that right?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: So, they just bring the women kind of through room-by-room or they'd ask if you were interested.

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: Oh. I never heard that. How much did they get, do you know?

Johnson: Ten dollars.

Sanger: Oh? Was that every what? Once a week?

Johnson: Yes, mostly weekends.

Sanger: Weekends.

Johnson: We'd be working six days and all. You'd be in the barracks. They'd usually come through weekends like Sunday.

Sanger: Would they ever get in trouble for doing that? Do you know?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: It was kind of, I suppose, sort of under the table?

Johnson: Yes. It was.

Sanger: Yes. Did that happen in the white barracks too, do you know?

Johnson: I don't know.

Sanger: What about gambling?

Johnson: There was no restriction on gambling. Well, the barracks would be in a line and there was a whole bunch of them on this line, you know, and a whole bunch on another one. There'd be gambling in any of them.

Sanger: Oh, what did they do usually?

Johnson: Shoot craps.

Sanger: Yes, I've heard there were a certain number of professionals involved in that.

Johnson: Yes. They would keep running the games.

Sanger: Mostly craps, though?

Johnson: Yes. I've never seen anything else but that. I imagine that they had card games too, but they were private also. You know craps, anybody could come in.

Sanger: Where would they do it, just in one particular room?

Johnson: Yes. Just like, if my buddy wanted to have a crap game, I'd go somewhere else. He'd run a game that night.

Sanger: Oh, I see. What did you do for recreation beside baseball?

Johnson: Well, we'd go out to different outings and things.

Sanger: Did you get off the reservation very often?

Johnson: No. I would come to Pasco every once and a while. I would see the reaction and right back over there was a concentration camp.

Sanger: Oh, was there?

Johnson: And, the concentration camp is a trailer camp across up A Street. This one guy, I remember having a trailer and some girls in that trailer. Those concentration people would be lined up. They'd be going into that trailer.

Sanger: Oh, they would? What were they, from Germany or what?

Johnson: No. I don't know where they were from. I thought that they looked kind of like Chinamen.

Sanger: Oh, maybe they were Japanese. Do you suppose?

Johnson: I wouldn't say it because I think they were mostly fellows who were picked up around in here.

Sanger: Oh, you mean like the Japanese.

Johnson: Comprehensive objection they called it.

Sanger: So, you would have stayed out there until what, about the middle of '45? That's when you went back to Alabama?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: And, stayed what, just a few months, or not even that long?

Johnson: I wouldn't say I was there a month. It was May when we got back there. It was still was May, I believe.

Sanger: Yes, VE Day?

Johnson: Yes. By the time I got there, I was there one day and I was in this tavern. I didn't have quite enough. I had delayed it and it was going to be mine when I got there when I was coming back. But, I didn't have enough tickets and so I made arrangements to buy some tickets from this tavern owner. The next day declared V-Day. I didn't buy them tickets. I was paying $1 a piece for these tickets.

Sanger: And then the war was over? That's where you were when the bombs were dropped, the atomic bomb?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: Were you surprised about Hanford's connection with that or not?

Johnson: I really was surprised. I didn't think I had nothing to do with that at all. All of that was kept from us.

Sanger: What did you think? What did you and the other guys with whom you were working think they were doing out there?

Johnson: We didn't know.

Sanger: No idea?

Johnson: No idea.

Sanger: Yes.

Johnson: No idea. All of that was surprising when we found out that because, in the first place, the construction workers didn't ever get a chance to go back in those plants after they finished them. Every once in a while we'd go back to repair something. We'd have to put on them shoes, and coveralls and things. But, I didn't know what all of that was about.

Sanger: Yes. Hardly anybody did. I think.

Johnson: No. I didn't know what all of that was about. It was really surprising to me. When I got back to Alabama, people there knew more about what was happening out in [00:21:00] Hanford than I did, and I was working there.

Sanger: Oh, they did? How did they find out? In the newspapers or what?

Johnson: I don't know.

Sanger: What did you think of it when they dropped the bombs?

Johnson: It just surprised me. Someone said, "That's what you were all making"-we killed people.

Sanger: Yes?

Johnson: That really shocked me!

Sanger: Well, they said that that shortened the war, so probably worth it. Now, were you married when you were out there?

Johnson: Yes, I was.

Sanger: What your wife lived in the women's' barracks or what?

Johnson: No. She didn't come out until later.

Sanger: Oh, she didn't? She stayed back in Alabama?

Johnson: And when she came out, I rented a room. There was one big house on the Hanford reservation, and I rented a room from them.

Sanger: One of the old farm houses or what?

Johnson: Yes. And, there's a long story there. I had bought her a bracelet. The lady who rented the place, the bracelet got missed. She got unhappy. And so, I had and saved about $700 when she came out. But, she couldn't' stay there anymore, she said.

Sanger: Because the bracelet got stolen?

Johnson: Yes. And, we went out that Sunday evening, drove around through the trailer camp. We found a trailer for 600 and something dollars.

Sanger: To buy it?

Johnson: Yes. I bought that trailer and moved in the trailer.

Sanger: Oh, then you moved in that?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: But, that was in the big trailer. That was on the site in the trailer camp?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: What was that like?

Johnson: That was just a whole bunch of trailers kind of like trailer camps now. Hanford is just a big town like anything. There are banks and drug stores and everything. Folks are doing the same thing. We'd go to the store and go back to the trailer. My wife would cook. After that, I hardly ate in the barracks anymore.

Sanger: Oh, you didn't. Was that segregated in the trailer camp or not?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: Were there a number of blacks living there?

Johnson: Yes, but they were in one spot. The trailer camp was in one spot.

Sanger: I talked to a lady last night who lived out there for about ten months. She said that she really liked it. It was quiet. Everything was well run and orderly.

Johnson: Well, I think that the trailer camp was. But, you found everything in those barracks.

Sanger: I'll bet, yes. Well, you know. A bunch of single men with quite a bit of money living together out in the middle of nowhere, I suppose that it did make it exciting. What did you have to pay? Do you remember, for the trailer? The park, where you parked? Did you have to pay something for that?

Johnson: No we didn't have to pay anything for the trailer park. That was set up there by the government for the workers.

Sanger: How was the food in the mess halls usually?

Johnson: It was pretty good food. I kind of enjoyed the food until my wife came.

Sanger: Yes. It was better I suppose. Were there also a lot of blacks working in the food service, cooks and that sort of thing?

Johnson: Yes. Some spots had lots of blacks. It seemed like it was more black waitresses and people working in the mess hall than there was white.

Sanger: I guess the company came from Chicago, the one that ran the food end of it, the Olympic Commissaries.

Johnson: Yes, they did. And, the black women-after I was fired-was there a long time after I moved away from there. I found out different places they came from, but they were recruited from St. Louis.

Sanger: Oh, were they?

Johnson: Yes, and everybody said they were from St. Louis, and it seemed like St. Louis had a record of people working in places like that.

Sanger: Are any of those women still around here?

Johnson: Yes, [there is] one who I can remember, Christine Guy. She worked there. Kisiola James worked there too.

Sanger: Yes, I talked to a couple of women who live in Yakima or one, I guess, who was in the mess hall. It must have been quite a place to work?

Johnson: Yes.

Sanger: Let me see if I've got anything else here. I don't want to take too much of your time. So, you probably would've been out there, during the war for what, about a year? Or it would be from you say, spring of '44 until about a little more than a year maybe. If you went back there in May, I guess, that'd make it maybe fourteen months or so. Did you always live over here then after the war was over in Pasco?

Johnson: Yes, I lived in Pasco.

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At top is the edited version of the interview published by S. L. Sanger in Working on the Bomb: An Oral History of WWII Hanford, Portland State University, 1995. For the full transcript that matches the audio of the interview, please scroll down.] Book version:

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CELEBRATING PACIFIC NORTHWEST BLACK ARTISTS

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CELEBRATING PACIFIC NORTHWEST BLACK ARTISTS

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Celebrating Pacific Northwest Black Artists

At Northwest Framing, we embrace and celebrate diversity, creativity and stand in solidarity with those confronting racism. In honor of Black History Month 2021, we'd like to showcase some of our favorite Pacific Northwest Black artists and galleries.

We're also happy to announce the release of our BIPOC Artist directory. Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) is a term meant to unite all people of color with the understanding that not all people of color face the same degrees of injustice. Interested in learning more about or supporting the amazing BIPOC artists in our region? Download the list here: BIPOCARTISTDIRECTORY. We're sure we've missed some artists and this list is meant to be an ever-evolving resource so we encourage our communities to submit additions to the directory through our web contact page here.

1. Sade DuBois (Portland)

Raised in North Portland, DuBoise is a mixed media painter known for her magnificent portraits of strong, beautiful black women.

Website: https://sadeduboisestudio.com/

Mother of Judah, soft body and gouache acrylics on heavy watercolor paper

2. Hobbs the Artist (Portland)

Hobbs is a Portland teen whose work revolves around his 'City Troll' persona ( City Troll /sit-ee trōl/ noun, one that appreciates urban aesthetics; is accepting, resilient and diverse) and aims to bring perspective to the world through both performance and visual art.

Website: https://www.citytroll.com/

Earth/Mainstream Consumerism is Massacring the Ecosystem, mixed media

3. GreenHAUS Gallery & Shop (Portland)

GreenHAUS is a North Portland boutique featuring artisan crafted and vintage treasures as well as an art gallery build to positively impact the local community.

Website: http://www.greenhausgallery.com/

Currently showing Latoya Lovely:

Neon Woman, oil, acrylic, mixed media

4. Chi Moscou-Jackson (Seattle)

A Seattle based artist, Chi Moscou-Jackson's mixed media work (photography, sculpture, drawing, etc.) draws on social political and ecological themes.

Website: https://chimoscoujackson.com/work

Their Mission, 2017, collage from found vintage magazines

5. Aramis O. Hamer (Seattle)

A nurse turned artist, Aramis brings 'Black girl magic' to the Seattle masses through her psychedelic murals featuring goddess figures.

Website: https://aohamer.com/

Gone, acrylic paint

6. Wa Na Wari (Seattle)

Wa Na Wari, a creative space in Seattle's Central District, is a center for Black art and culture that showcases local and regional Black artists as well as provides space for workshops, performances and an oral history studio.

Website: https://www.wanawari.org/

Currently showing Andrea Coleman

Finding a Seat at the Kitchen Table, digital collage

Posted on February 2, 2021 in Art, Artists, Wall Art

Copyright ©1974-2022 Northwest Framing. All rights reserved.

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Northwest Framing | Celebrating Pacific Northwest Black Artists

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At Northwest Framing, we embrace and celebrate diversity, creativity and stand in solidarity with those confronting racism. In honor of Black History Month 2021, we'd like to showcase some of our favorite Pacific Northwest Black artists and galleries. We're also happy to announce the release of our BIPOC Artist directory.

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John, the firstborn child of Ellender Penelope Mathews, was born on March 2, 1816 in Montgomery County, North Carolina. According to some family histories, he was taught to read and write by his father and slave owner, Byron Dudley Mask, despite the fact that teaching slaves these skills was specifically prohibited by law in North Carolina. John does not appear to be listed with his mother in the 1830 census and the assumption is that he and his brother may have been living elsewhere. Sometime after the family was granted their freedom in 1830, he moved to Tennessee. In October of 1837, he married Eliza Rachel Wooley. Although the records are inconsistent, it would appear that Eliza was white and they had 15 children:

John Dudley Mathews stands with a flute. Enlarge image

1. William C. Mathews (1838-1875)

2. Drucilla Mathews (1840-1920); married Samuel Turman and second husband, William Brown

3. Milla/Millie (1842-1856)

4. Dudley K Polk Mathews (1844-1906); married Mary Aseneth Geary

5. America H Mathews (1846-1938); married James Spear and second husband, Maurice Fitzgerald

6. Rutha Mathews (1849-1863)

7. Hezekiah "Ki" Mathews (1850-1920); married Elizabeth Ann "Lucy" Johnson

8. Juda/Julia Rachel Mathews (1851-1917); married David W. Mayham

9. Mary Ellen Mathews (1854-1934); married Andrew McNeil and second husband, Zera Dahack

10. Elizabeth Jane Mathews (1856-1873); married Charles Wilson

11. Martha Maria Mathews (1858-1902); married John Allen and second husband, Eli Dahack

12. Green Banks Mathews (1861-1943); married Ida May Dahack

13. Infant girl Mathews, (1863-1863)

14. Lot Minerva (1869-1873)

15. Champion Grant Mathews (1870-1953); married Martha Ada Wolary

​​

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John, the firstborn child of Ellender Penelope Mathews, was born on March 2, 1816 in Montgomery County, North Carolina. According to some family histories, he was taught to read and write by his father and slave owner, Byron Dudley Mask, despite the fact that teaching slaves these skills was specifically prohibited by law in North Carolina.

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EMANUEL LOPES - FIRST BLACK RESIDENT OF SEATTLE

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EMANUEL LOPES - FIRST BLACK RESIDENT OF SEATTLE

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Photo by Frederic Dally, Public domain image

Emanuel, or Manuel, Lopes was Seattle, Washington's first black resident. He came to Washington Territory and this small frontier town of fewer than 180 non-indigenous residents in 1858, seven years after its founding. He opened a restaurant and barbershop, soon establishing himself as an independent businessman.

Lopes was born about 1812 in the Cape Verde Islands, a Portuguese colony off the coast of Africa. In the 1830s and 1840s, New England whaling ships regularly stopped in the islands. Lopes likely joined a crew; he then worked as a sailor out of New Bedford, Massachusetts. He married and had a son, but his wife, Susannah Jones, died soon after he left for the West Coast; their son died soon after reaching adulthood.

Shifting careers when he arrived in Seattle, Lopes installed the first barber chair brought around Cape Horn in a building that also housed his restaurant on the east side of Commercial Street (now 1st Ave. South). Early settlers like Dexter Horton and Judge Thomas Mercer and their families lived nearby, and Lopes probably shaved the men and cut their hair.

His restaurant served loggers, mill hands, sailors, and miners, and he was known for his generosity, providing meals for his customers whether they could pay or not. He announced mealtime three times a day marching up and down the four blocks of Commercial Street with his snare drum. "At noontime especially did he make his message known," his obituary read, "and it then became so common that none but strangers in the city thought it remarkable that a drum should signal the dinner-hour."

His drum proved handy for the annual 4th of July parade. With a fife-player named Kelly, they aroused the patriotism of the settlers to a fever heat. "Every old-timer on Puget Sound remembers Emanuel and his snare drum."

Soon Lopes had competition. In 1861, William Grose arrived, opened a restaurant and hotel and later a barber shop. Robert L. Dixon arrived in 1865, worked for Lopes, then opened his own barber shop. By 1870, six of the city's thirteen black residents were barbers, a trade that produced the most successful African American businessmen in the 19th century.

During an economic downturn in the 1870s, Lopes moved to the new logging town of Port Gamble on the Kitsap Peninsula, where he established a friendship with Cyrus Walker, superintendent of the Puget Mill Company.

Suffering from symptoms of dropsy or edema, which has multiple causes, Lopes was admitted to Providence Hospital in Seattle in 1885 where he lived for another 10 years. In 1893, he was one of the 200 members attending the Washington Pioneer Association annual meeting. Lopes died in Seattle in December 1895 around the age of 83. He was buried in Port Gamble as Walker had promised he would be.

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Emanuel, or Manuel, Lopes was Seattle, Washington's first black resident. He came to Washington Territory and this small frontier town of fewer than 180 non-indigenous residents in 1858, seven years after its founding. He opened a restaurant and barbershop, soon establishing himself as an independent ... Read MoreEmanuel Lopes (1812-1895)

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Black History Month at WSU: the stories behind the 6 names

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Black History Month at WSU: the stories behind the 6 names

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Black History Month at WSU: the stories behind the 6 names

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Noah Williams

THE SHIRT FEATURES SIX NAMES. Washington State sports teams, in honor of Black History Month, have been wearing the black t-shirts in warm ups to honor six Black trailblazers -- in some cases, hidden figures -- who broke barriers at Washington State University.

Two are household names; one has been feted as a race pioneer at both WSU and Texas; two were breaking barriers as recently as the 1980s and no one even realized it; and another was lost to history until former WSU SID Rod Commons pored through the archives.

MUNRO WILSON

Wilson is now believed to be the first African-American football player ever at Washington State -- a member of the 1925 and 1926 teams. Until Commons' extraordinary research, the color line in WSC football was believed first crossed by Duke Washington, Bill Holmes and Howard McCants in the early 1950s. Instead, it was crossed nearly 25 years earlier.

Some of the answers remain elusive and lost to the ravages of time but with help from Commons, we're finally ready to publish a story from former CF.C writer Kelsey Jones ... stay tuned to CF.C tomorrow for Wilson's remarkable story.

DUKE WASHINGTON
A star running back at Washington State from 1952-54. As a senior, he earned Associated Press All-America honorable mention honors from the served as the team captain.

On October 2, 1954, he became the first African American to play football in Texas' famed Memorial Stadium. He also became the first African American to score a touchdown in the stadium, racing 73 yards, after which he received "the day's loudest cheers from 28,000 fans."

Click his name, hot-linked above, for his full story, from Pasco to the WSU Hall of Fame. He forever called Washington State University "my true north."

ELSON FLOYD
The first Black president at WSU, Floyd pushed the university to new heights and was a pioneer who paved the way for Black educators, students and staff. Floyd, who arrived at WSU in 2007, possessed an understanding of, and advocacy for, athletics in a way not seen at WSU for decades. And while he wasn't here to witness the resurrection of Cougar football, his influence in that area cannot be overstated.

Even as his health declined, he refused to divert attention from his last great achievement: a WSU medical school in Spokane. Indeed, transformative doesn't begin to describe the depth and breadth of his impact on Washington State and the Pacific Northwest, CF.C co-founder Greg Witter wrote of Floyd's passing at the age of 59 due to complications from colon cancer in 2015.

CASSANDRA OVERBY

She played basketball at WSU from 1980-84 etched her name in the crimson annals as one of the best scorers and rebounders in Cougar basketball history. She finished her Cougar career as the program's all-time leading rebounder and was the second player in school history to surpass 1000-career points, finishing with 1,158.

In 2015, she along with Pam Qualls, were the first African-American women inducted into the Washington State University Athletic Hall of Fame.

GEORGE RAVELING
He assumed the helm of the men's basketball program in 1972 and brought it into the modern era, taking two of his last five teams to the NCAA Tournament in 1980 and 1983. He was the first African American men's head basketball coach in conference history and one of but a handful of Black head coaches in the nation.

In 2015, he told Cougfan.com that, shortly after being hired, he asked then-WSU athletic director Ray Nagel why he thought a Black coach made sense in a rural place like Pullman. "Ray said, "I really want to see what it would take to make this program competitive. We need someone who could recruit players to Pullman ... I called all over the country to find a great recruiter, and your name kept coming up. I didn't think hiring a great coach was going to get it done.'"

Raveling has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball, National Collegiate Basketball and WSU halls of fame. His name was hoisted to the Beasley rafters this past February, alongside the retired jerseys of Klay Thompson and Raveling's dominating big man of the 1970s, Steve Puidokas. Raveling also possesses one of the great documents in American civil rights history: Martin Luther King's original notes from his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. You can read about his fateful acquisition of the speech here.

PAM QUALLS

Pam Qualls exploded out of the blocks as a track student-athlete at WSU from 1985-88 -- she was a four-time All-American and one of the first African-American All-Americans in school history.

Nearly 35 years after she left WSU, she remains the school record holder in the 100m and 200m dash.

In 2015, she, along with Cassandra Overby, were the first African-American women inducted into the Washington State University Athletic Hall of Fame.

WES FOSTER ... his name does not appear on the shirt but he too deserves mention. He is believed to be one of the first prominent African-American athletes at Washington State and the first African-American All-American at the school.

Foster won six Pacific Coast Conference individual track & field titles while at Washington State, including his 100-yard dash time of 9.9, and a 220-yard time of 21.6, in the 1928 men's conference outdoor event. Also 1928, he set a World, American and collegiate record for 175 yards with a time of 16.6 seconds. He is a member of WSU Athletic Hall of Fame.

The back of the shirt, featuring the Cougar logo and BHM. Black History Month - an annual celebration -- had its beginnings in 1926 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard scholar. It is held in February because Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, whom Woodson believed had greatly influenced the lives of African Americans, both had birthdays in February.

You can find the remaining WSU events scheduled for this month, and also those that came before it, on WSU's website HERE.

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Black History Month at WSU: the stories behind the 6 names

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THE SHIRT FEATURES SIX NAMES. Washington State sports teams, in honor of Black History Month, have been wearing the black t-shirts in warm ups to honor six Black trailblazers -- in some cases, hidden figures -- who broke barriers at Washington State University.

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Susan/Susanna "Sucky" Mathews was born on April 2, 1823 in Montgomery County, North Carolina. As a young girl, Susan was said to have worked for a widower named Lewis Johnson. A family history states she was married by age 15 and had several children by Johnson. They apparently moved together from North Carolina to Tennessee and onto Missouri.

When Susan moved to Oregon with her extended family, Mr. Johnson did not accompany her. Upon arriving in Jackson County, Susan and her sister Amanda became part of the booming mining community in the Jacksonville area. Susan had a daughter in 1854, whose father is listed as French, and two more children were born before she "married" George Weeks. She had several children by this relationship. In the 1880 census Susan is listed as divorced. No marriage or divorce records can be found. Susan had 12 children in all and they were:

1. Jane Delaney Johnson (1840-1928); married Andrew McNeil and second husband, Foster

2. Maranda Ann Johnson (1843-1873); married Lewis Geary

3. Mary/Missouri Ann Johnson (1846-1884); married Ferdinand Peterson

4. William Ruben Johnson (1849-1933)

5. Francis L. Johnson (1850-n.d.); married Caroline Dresler

6. Priscilla Eleanor (French) (1854-1941); married John McDaniel

7. Thomas Jefferson (Johnson) (1856-1917)

8. Elizabeth Ann "Lucy" (Johnson) (1858-1928); married Hezkiah Mathews and second husband Thomas J. Conover

9. Acey "Ace" Charles Weeks (1863-1944)

10. Grant E. "Guy" Weeks (1865-n.d.)

11. George Washington Weeks (1865-1944); married Eva

12. James David Weeks (1868-1907)

Susan died on December 13, 1909 in Jackson County, Oregon.

​

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Susan/Susanna "Sucky" Mathews was born on April 2, 1823 in Montgomery County, North Carolina. As a young girl, Susan was said to have worked for a widower named Lewis Johnson. A family history states she was married by age 15 and had several children by Johnson.

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Black History at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site 

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Black History at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site 

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From the fur trade era of the early 19th century to the U.S. Army's establishment of Vancouver Barracks, the stories of Black people are an integral part of the story of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

Discover their stories at the links below.

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Black History at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)

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From the fur trade era of the early 19th century to the U.S. Army's establishment of Vancouver Barracks, the stories of Black people are an integral part of the story of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. Discover their stories at the links below.

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Bishop John Hurst Adams was pastor at Seattle's First African Methodist Episcopal Church from 1962 to 1968 and a leader in the city's civil rights struggle. He moved to other cities and states after 1...

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Nettie Craig Asberry was an extraordinary, early African American resident of Tacoma who was known for her work in fighting racism and in helping to open doors for women. A founding member of the Tacoma NAACP, a music teacher, a club woman, and in later years a volunteer social worker in the community, she was a Tacoma icon.

Early Years

Nettie Asberry was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, on July 15, 1865, the only free child of Violet Craig's six children. Her father was William Wallingford, the owner of a plantation on which Violet was a slave. She began studying piano when she was eight years old and later on began composing her own music. A precocious 13-year-old, she became interested in women's suffrage after listening to Susan B Anthony in Leavenworth and became secretary for a Susan B. Anthony Club. (Susan B. Anthony's brother Daniel R. Anthony was editor of the Leavenworth Times and an anti-slavery activist.)

Few women of any color were enrolled in college in 1883, but Nettie Craig Asberry earned a music degree from the Kansas Conservatory of Music and Elocution in Leavenworth. She was a music instructor and teacher in the all-Black town of Nicodemus, Kansas. (Nicodemus is now a National Historic Site in the U.S. National Park Service and the only remaining western community established by African Americans after the Civil War.) She also taught music in Kansas City and in Denver. After marrying Albert Jones, the two set out on the train for Seattle in 1890. Upon arrival, she immediately put her musical talents to work by becoming the first organist and musical director in the newly established First African Methodist Episcopal Church.

A New Life with Henry Asberry

Her husband died in 1893, and she went back to her family in Kansas. Shortly thereafter she and her family returned to the Northwest and settled in Tacoma. She met Henry Joseph Asberry (1862-1939) and they married on February 23, 1895, and the two prospered -- he amassing a large amount of property and she becoming a respected leader.

Henry Asberry had been a barber in New Orleans at the old St. Charles Hotel during the first year of the World's Cotton Exposition. Venturing north he landed in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1890, where, while shaving and cutting the hair of Col. Chauncey W. Griggs, one of the founders of the Tacoma & St. Paul Lumber Company, he learned of the opportunities in the Pacific Northwest, and particularly in Tacoma, which was one of the fastest-growing cities in the area. Again, he moved to seek his fortune, this time in Tacoma.

He took over the Gottleib Yaeger's barbershop in the new Tacoma Hotel, at 915 A Street near the site of the present-day Fireman's Park. The distinguished building was designed by Stanford White (1853-1906), one of the most prominent architects of the time and famous men came and stayed at the hotel. Many of the guests frequented Asberry's barber shop. They included Mark Twain, who spent several weeks on Puget Sound and made his headquarters at the hotel; William Rockefeller when he was looking over the prospects of getting terminals for the Milwaukee railroad; Calvin Coolidge, who was vice president at the time, and Joaquin Miller, known as the "poet of the Sierras."

It was customary in those days for regular clients to have individual shaving mugs with their names inscribed. These mugs lining Asberry's shelves read like a who's who of Tacoma. There was Henry Hewitt, co-founder with Griggs of the lumber company; William Blackwell, proprietor of the first hotel in Tacoma; real-estate magnate R. E. Anderson; S. A. Perkins, Superior Court Judge, and many others. The mugs survived the 1935 fire that destroyed the hotel. After Henry Asberry's death on July 26, 1939, Nettie Asberry presented the collection of his shaving mugs to the Washington State Historical Society Museum.

Musician and Teacher

Shortly after arriving in Tacoma, Nettie Asberry became organist and choir director for the Allen AME Church of which she remained a member for the rest of her life. She was also a devoted believer in the Bahai faith the last 25 years of her life.

In 1902, she organized the Mozart Musical Club for young people to broaden their musical culture and knowledge of the lives of great composers. She had a massive upright piano in her home, which still stands at 1219 South 13th Street and where she lived for more than 50 years. Earlier residences where she taught music were at 1022 South Tacoma in 1896, and at 1012 South 12th Street from 1897 until 1902. She taught hundreds of young people and was one of the best-known music teachers in the city. She presented 45 or more in recital each year. Because her home was in the melting-pot area of the city, her students were of all colors and from all walks of life. She played the piano every day and in later years donated musical instruments and material to a library and music hall in the Hilltop neighborhood.

Civil Rights

Always sensitive to injustice, Asberry was a consummate letter writer to newspaper editors protesting racial discrimination. She was the founder of the Tacoma chapter of the NAACP in 1913, the first chapter founded west of the Rockies, and she personally submitted the application to the New York office. When queried she said, "What was our first official act? -- A measure against inter-racial marriage was pushed through the state legislature. We had an underground worker there who let us know and overnight we got together a caravan of several cars of people of several races, whites, colored, Filipinos, and others. We descended on the powerful rules committee as a surprise and defeated the measure" (Bence).

Her service to the association was legendary. She served as regional field secretary and later as local branch secretary. Crisis, the magazine of the NAACP, in its 1943 issue, listed her as one of the "First Ladies" of colored America and published a record of her achievements.

In 1916, a mass meeting was held at the AME church over concern about the showing of the movie Birth of a Nation in which freed slaves were portrayed trying to rape white girls and attack white settlers. It was Nettie Asberry who was chosen to write the letter to the press protesting the release of the movie. In 1918, she was also in the forefront protesting the establishment of segregation at Fort Lewis.

Other efforts included challenging the practice of restricting seating for Blacks in theater balconies. The practice was eventually stopped by an outpouring of protest letters to theater managers. It was she who put forth an effort to have letters sent to store managers downtown protesting insults by store clerks, letting them know that it would no longer be tolerated or ignored. Another target of protest was the practice of putting signs in restaurant windows stating that the management reserved the right to refuse service to anyone.

A number of influential African Americans came to the Northwest because of her efforts. They included Madam C. J. Walker (1867-1919), the hair-care entrepreneur; James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938), author prominent in the Harlem Renaissance; W. E. B. DuBois (1868-1963), civil rights activist and author; and Roland Hayes (1887-1977), internationally acclaimed lyric tenor.

Black Women and the A-Y-P

In 1908, Asberry heard that there would be a world's fair to be called the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle in 1909, and that there would be a women's building. She got busy and organized the Clover Leaf Art Club to foster an interest in needlework and handicraft and also to bring about a closer relationship among members, give assistance to the unfortunate ones, and to bring about, ultimately, the formation of a state federation of colored women's clubs.

The following year the club and its members earned medals at the exposition for their handiwork: a Battenberg lace opera coat made by Asberry's sister Martha Townsend won a silver medal. The overall exhibit won a gold medal, and the paintings and ceramics of Matilda Baker (d. 1954) won a bronze medal. (Matilda Baker appears in some sources as Mrs. Hiram Moore-Baker.)
The Club Movement
This was the beginning of the African American women's club movement in Washington. Asberry went about the state to encourage African American women to organize clubs. In Longview, Victoria Freeman started a study club, and in Seattle in 1910, the Dorcas Charity Club was organized by a group of women with Susie Revels Cayton (1870-1943) as its president. When the Washington State Federation of Colored Women was formed in 1917, it brought together city federations and individual clubs from Spokane, Tacoma, and Seattle as well as some in Idaho and Vancouver B.C. Asberry served as its president and was a frequently requested speaker.

At one time there were more than 120 individual clubs with 500 members. The focus was on self-help activism as advocated by Booker T. Washington in order to upgrade the social, economic, and political status of African Americans. Although the state federation began to decline in the 1970s, several African American women's clubs still exist in Tacoma and Seattle.

In 1918, Asberry formed the Allen Red Cross where friends loaned sewing machines and made hospital garments. She was also a member of the Progressive Mothers' Club of Tacoma and the Tacoma Inter-Racial Council.

Honors

In her honor the Nettie Asberry Cultural Club was formed in Tacoma. It is still in existence and promotes Black history in the schools and in the community. In 1961, she was honored for her music and her volunteer social work by 110 co-workers in the City Association of Colored Women. The music room in the club house of the Tacoma Association of Colored Women's Clubs, Inc. which was built in 1970 and dedicated by Governor Dan Evans (b. 1925) is named in her honor.

Asberry died in 1968 at the age of 103. The following year, Mayor A. L. Rasmussen proclaimed May 11, 1969, as Nettie Asberry Day in Tacoma.

Sources:

Erna Bence, "Dr. Asberry Feted as 'Ivory Doll,'" Tacoma News Tribune, July 15, 1965; Erna Bence, "Dr. Asberry, 96, Founder of NAACP Here, to Be Honored on Tuesday," Ibid., July 23, 1961; Erna Bence, "Found, A Very Old Diploma," Ibid.,, October 26, 1975; L. E. Bragg, More than Petticoats: Remarkable Washington Women (Helena, Montana: Falcon Publishing, Inc., 1998); Jerri Brooker, "Dr. Nettie J. Craig Asberry, Tacoma Icon," February 8, 2004, Suite101.com website (http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/washington_state/106400); Antoinette Broussard, "Nettie Craig Asberry, a Pillar of Tacoma's African American Community," Columbia Magazine, Fall 2005; African American National Biography, ed. by Henry Louis Gates and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008); Mary Henry interview with Freddie Barnett, May 24, 2008; "May 11 Is proclaimed Dr. Nettie Asberry Day," Tacoma News Tribune, May 1, 1969; "Nettie J. Asberry -- In Sisterhood," InterAct (Newsletter of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission) January/February 1998; Nettie J. Asberry Papers, 1912-1967, Special Collections, University of Washington; E. T. Short, "Henry Asberry of the Tacoma Hotel," The Tacoma Times, April 4, 1934; African Women Confront the West, 1600-2000 ed. by Quintard Taylor and Shirley Ann Wilson Moore (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 2003); Turkiya Lowe, "Washington State Federation of Colored Women," Blackpast.org website (www.blackpast.org). Note: This essay was updated on January 11, 2022, to reflect Asberry's education and degree earned in Kansas.

Licensing: This essay is licensed under a Creative Commons license that encourages reproduction with attribution. Credit should be given to both HistoryLink.org and to the author, and sources must be included with any reproduction. Click the icon for more info. Please note that this Creative Commons license applies to text only, and not to images. For more information regarding individual photos or images, please contact the source noted in the image credit.

Major Support for HistoryLink.org Provided By: The State of Washington | Patsy Bullitt Collins | Paul G. Allen Family Foundation | Museum Of History & Industry | 4Culture (King County Lodging Tax Revenue) | City of Seattle | City of Bellevue | City of Tacoma | King County | The Peach Foundation | Microsoft Corporation, Other Public and Private Sponsors and Visitors Like You

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Nettie Craig Asberry was an extraordinary, early African American resident of Tacoma who was known for her work in fighting racism and in helping to open doors for women. A founding member of the Tacoma NAACP, a music teacher, a club woman, and in later years a volunteer social worker in the community, she was a Tacoma icon.

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The Barons: The Northwest's First Hit-making '50s Teen Rock 'n' Roll Group

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The Barons: The Northwest's First Hit-making '50s Teen Rock 'n' Roll Group

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A half-decade prior to the Pacific Northwest's great rock 'n' roll eruption of 1959-1960 -- a period that saw a series of teenage groups (including the Fleetwoods, Frantics, Shades, Gallahads, Wailers, Ron Holden and the Thunderbirds, and Little Bill and the Bluenotes) all suddenly burst onto the national scene with hit records -- yet another local group blazed that same trail. Tacoma's talented doo-wop singers, the Barons, were signed to one of America's most esteemed independent labels, the Los Angeles-based Imperial Records, and scored a series of promising hits. Unfortunately, the group was a bit ahead of its time -- the Northwest didn't even have an organized teen-dance scene yet -- and the Barons disbanded before they were able to make the most of their remarkable success. As a result, the group's legacy nearly slipped through the cracks of history. They are absent from all rock encyclopedias, they remain unheralded even in their home region, and the Barons' story has never been told until now.

Northwest Doo-Wop

The Pacific Northwest -- although never considered a hotbed of hard-core 1950s rhythm & blues music -- certainly could boast a number of African American a capella doo-wop groups. Included among those were Seattle's Echoes, Five Checks, Mello-aires, Gallahads, Counts, Songcrafters, Bop Tones, and Fabulous Winds. Meanwhile Tacoma had the Four Pearls, Skylarks, Cool Breezers, Parking Meters, Chantz -- and the most accomplished of them all, the Barons.

The founding members of that group -- William Gold (lead), Sterling "Stokey" Wilford (tenor), Carl Charles (baritone), and Malcolm Parks (bass) -- grew up in Tacoma's Eastside housing projects and met while singing together in the choir at the old Bethlehem Baptist Church (1721 S I Street). Later while attending Lincoln High School (701 S 37th Street) and Stadium High School (111 N E Street), they began rehearsing at each other's homes and that's when they adopted the Barons as a name and began singing rhythm & blues tunes -- including a batch written by Gold.

On Broadway

The Barons were inspired by all the new R&B hits airing on local radio shows hosted by two pioneering Black DJs, Fitzgerald "Eager" Beaver and Bob Summerise. Beaver also owned the Broadway Record Shop, which mainly catered to the Black community, and it was while hanging out and practicing there that the Barons probably caught wind of an occasional concert/dance event where teenagers were able to see and hear hip live music. As Wilford -- who was also a star baseball pitcher at Lincoln High -- recalled:

"At that time, the Century Ballroom [1406 54th Avenue E, in Fife] and the Evergreen Ballroom [9121 Pacific Avenue SE] was about the only thing goin' here. Of course, there was the Oddfellows Hall -- they used to have dances down there. But that was mostly for the white kids. And for our little group, Club 24 was the only place for us to go. But then once a month or two, somebody would come to town, and even the kids could go out to the Evergreen [Ballroom]. We seen the Clovers and James Brown out there."

Tacoma's Club 24

Tacoma's housing projects did offer -- if not much else -- a chaperoned youth club called Club 24. Every Friday night kids gathered at the place and they danced, clowned around, played ping pong, and generally had fun. Luckily, Club 24 also offered a tape recorder and a supply of magnetic tape that the kids occasionally played with for fun. And that's how the Barons ended up cutting a few originals -- like "Boom Boom" -- and mailing that self-recorded demo tape off to a few of the top R&B record companies down in California.

So it was that within weeks of sending their tape off, the Barons were shocked to hear back from the famous Bihari brothers at Modern Records, who invited the group down to make a record. Having already scored hits with vocal groups including the Cadets and the Jacks, Modern was willing to dabble a bit further in the doo-wop realm. Though the label offered no cash upfront -- or across, under, around the back, or at all -- the Barons were still so thrilled about this golden opportunity that Gold's father managed to pony up a couple of hundred bucks to start them on their trip.

Bright Lights Big City

It was in January '55 that the Barons -- with their parents' reluctant permission to miss a few days of school -- hitched a ride down to Culver City, California, and went straight over to Modern's studios. Upon their arrival they walked in the door, only to be stopped by the front-office staff. The Barons introduced themselves and were greeted warmly, but then informed that there wouldn't be any recording session that day as had been planned. It seems that a scheduling problem had arisen because one of Modern's premier acts, the hot sax-man Joe Houston (1926-2016), had shown up unexpectedly, and cutting his new LP was the label's top priority. Tired from the travel, general excitement, and subsequent disappointment, the Barons found a hotel and resolved to try again the next morning. But once again they were stalled, and for more than a week the Barons -- whose meager funds were dwindling dangerously -- were led along this way.

Disheartened and nearly destitute in the big city, the Barons took a desperate last-ditch chance and phoned across town to another big-time R&B label, Imperial Records. Imperial was home to some great artists back then, including Fats Domino, T-Bone Walker, and Big Jay McNeely. Taking the call, Imperial's head honcho, Lew Chudd, encouraged the boys to hurry on over to his Hollywood offices, whereupon he signed the guys up on the spot. A recording session was held on February 9 (probably with ace arranger Ernie Freeman leading the studio band) and at least six tracks were cut, each of them co-credited as being composed by "Billy Gold" and Imperial A&R man, "Eddie Ray."

Imperial believed enough in the band that it arranged to have them perform a few times at a legendary jazz and R&B room, the 5-4 Ballroom (5409 S Broadway). Indeed, the Barons even got to sing there with one of their idols -- Fats Domino -- a label-mate at Imperial who happened to be in town. Treated relatively well by Chudd -- and having been given adequate funds for return bus fare -- the Barons came home feeling triumphant.

Imperial Era

Later in February the Barons' debut Imperial single -- "Eternally Yours"/ "Boom Boom" (No. 5343) -- was shipped, and it began receiving airplay on R&B stations in California and then across the nation. Imperial bought ads in Cash Box magazine hyping the single as "A Solid Hit," but, alas, it wasn't. It was simply a good first single, sung well and backed by professional session players.

It would be their second single that proved itself a winner in the marketplace. On June 14, 1955, Imperial issued "I Know I Was Wrong"/ "My Dream My Love" (No. 5359), and by August the A-side was breaking out in Philadelphia. With a push by America's top DJ, Alan Freed (1921-1965), the record got good exposure on the mighty New York station, WINS, then in a few of the other R&B markets of the East Coast and the South.

In perhaps in a bit too much of a hurry, Imperial rush-released the Barons' third single "Cold Kisses"/ "Searching For You" (No. 5370) on September 28, 1955. "Cold Kisses" was noted as a pick hit in the Los Angeles market and it began to sell very well. But then in November an industry trade magazine, Cash Box, noted that their previous single, "I Know I Was Wrong," was hot in Los Angeles; that the group had signed with one of the era's showbiz giants, Shaw Artists Corp.; that the group was booked for some shows back east; and that Fats Domino and the Barons would be making appearances on local TV shows. African American-oriented magazines -- Jet and Ebony -- began touting the Barons as up-&-comers to their readership, and it seemed that fame was inevitable.

Back in Los Angeles

All this progress looked promising to Chudd, and he called up to Tacoma to entice the group to return and record some new material. On January 1, 1956, the Barons entered Imperial's studio for a second round of recording.

Meanwhile, "I Know I was Wrong" continued on its path to hitdom. On January 14 it broke onto the Billboard "R&B Jockey" charts and in a two-week run reached the No. 14 slot. As a Top-20 hit, the song would prove to be the group's commercial zenith. Yet, typically for the industry at the time, even though the tune moved a lot of units -- in R&B record-hound circles it has been estimated at 750,000 -- the Barons received zero royalties from any of the sales.

In March 1956 Imperial issued the fourth single, "So Long My Darling" / "Crying For You Baby" (No. 5383), but it failed to catch fire, as did the Barons' fifth from July of that year, "Don't Walk Out" / "Once In A Lifetime" (No. 5397). Record-hound rumors circulated that four additional songs -- "My Secret," "Shake The Dice," "Hold Me Baby," and "I Love You Baby" -- had also been recorded, but with Imperial's hopes for the group now fading, they were kept locked away in the vaults. Three decades after-the-fact, a bootleg Owl Records 45 of "My Secret" was slipped into the underground black market, and in recent years "Shake The Dice" popped up on a CD collection.

Back to the Northwest

Upon their return to Tacoma, the Barons were once again faced with the fact that opportunities for live gigs here were few and far between. But on occasion they got a few breaks, getting hired to sing at high school dances in Seattle, Everett, and Tacoma, as well as one show at the Spanish Castle Ballroom and a few at Tacoma's Brown Derby restaurant. Then, when Seattle's top young African American band, the Dave Lewis Combo, began playing weekly at the Birdland dancehall (2203 E Madison Street) in 1957, the Barons made occasional "spotlight" appearances with them.

Additional high points included the night when R&B star Percy Mayfield (1920-1984) headlined a revue at the Century Ballroom, and the Barons were invited up to sing a few songs with him and his band. On another occasion, the Barons were brought onstage to sing a couple of numbers at Seattle's Eagles Auditorium (7th Avenue and Union Street) by the 5 Royales, a touring doo-wop group whose "Think" became a major hit in 1957.

So Long ...

Before long some of the guys' religiously strict parents disapproved of the R&B lifestyle -- and it does appear that the guys failed to graduate from school -- and such pressures were a factor in causing the Barons to dissolve. Over time, Gold (who eventually moved to Seattle) made stabs at carrying on with new recruits.

Sad to say, though, the Barons' heyday had passed, and their considerable achievements have since faded into the mists of time. Indeed, the Barons are completely missing from such otherwise excellent and authoritative books as The Billboard Book of American Singing Groups: A History 1940-1990, and The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll.

My Secret

In April 1987, Seattle's KVI radio broadcast a 10-hour radio special, The History of Northwest Rock, that I had penned, and co-produced with staffer, Mike Webb (1955-2007). Information about the Barons included in the hour-long "Vintage Northwest R&B (1949-1963)" segment caught plenty of area music fans by surprise. Phone calls and letters came in expressing excitement about the group and their "lost" history. The historical details provided in that program subsequently migrated over to the Internet where they existed for years as the only publicly available, and accurate, information about the group.

There is, on the other hand, plenty of inaccurate Barons-related factoids swirling in cyberspace, and on various album liner-note essays as well. This problem apparently began in the late 1960s with the release of an oldies-but-goodies LP that misidentified the Barons as a New Orleans group -- a mix-up that was compounded in the mid-1980s when EMI issued a doo-wop collection. Then, in 1987, the Barons were even included on EMI's Lost Dreams: The New Orleans Vocal Groups LP -- and that misinformation was subsequently incorporated directly into the Encyclopedia of Rhythm & Blues and Doo-Wop Vocal Groups. And these miscues have carried forth: as recently as 2007, the liner notes of a CD box-set ( The Cosimo Matassa Story) of Imperial classics has the Barons recording ("Boom Boom" / "Eternally Yours") at Cosimo Matassa's famous J&M Studio in New Orleans on February 9, 1955, with a follow-up session there on June 8, 1955.

A Baron Wasteland

One probable reason for all this confusion -- aside from the fact that Imperial actually did record many other groups in New Orleans -- is that the band's name was a ridiculously common one in the 1950s and 1960s. Indeed, there seems to have been a Barons vocal group (or rock band) in every region of America during those decades. New Orleans had at least one (Etah Records); New York had theirs (Decca Records); Detroit, theirs (Soul and Spartan Records); and Texas theirs (Torch Records).

In addition, various Barons scattered around the country recorded for Bellaire, Blue Jay Dart, Demon, Epic Key, Mode, RCA, Shagg, Shout, Tender, and Whitehall Records. And to further complicate matters, Imperial even signed a second Barons -- a garage rock band that cut one single in 1964 (the same year, by coincidence, that the label issued records by Seattle's Viceroys and Tacoma's Wailers).

Ahead Of Their Time

But the fact that the Barons' saga has been botched by various music historians reflects not at all on the group's musical merits. In fact, the Barons may well be the quintessential example of a worthy musical ensemble who simply got lost in the shuffle of music biz priorities. The Barons ought to have been serious contenders for widespread rock 'n' roll fame. Just consider that they were already cutting rockin' discs while Little Richard was still working as a bus-station dishwasher; Chuck Berry was still a half-year away from recording his debut hit, "Maybellene"; and Imperial's teen dream megastar, Ricky Nelson, was two years out from signing with the label!

If the Barons were under-promoted nationally by both their label and their talent agency, back home in the Northwest they were wholly underexposed. Yet the Barons do hold the historical distinction of being the very first homegrown Northwest rock 'n' roll group to record their songs -- songs that have stood the test of time and remain available on several compilation CDs.

Sources:

Peter Blecha interviews with Sterling "Stokey" Wilford (1985), Dave Lewis (July 1983 and April 12, 1989), and Anthony "Tiny Tony" Smith [Gallahads] (September 5, 1984), recordings in author's possession; Peter Blecha conversations and telephone interview with Win Vidor (1984); Rhea Maas, Tacoma Public Schools archives, email to Peter Blecha, October 19, 2009, in possession of Peter Blecha, Seattle, Washington; Pete Grendysa, "The Bihari Brothers," Goldmine magazine, May 1979, p. 35-36; Peter Blecha, "That's Tough: Vintage R&B of the Pacific Northwest," DISCoveries magazine, April, 1990, p. 104; Peter Blecha, "Northwest Rock: The Eruption of '59," Sound magazine, August, 2009, p. 58-61; Jay Warner, The Billboard Book of American Singing Groups: A History 1940-1990 (New York: Billboard Books 1992); The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll ed. by Jim Miller (New York: Random House 1976); Mitch Rosalsky, Encyclopedia of Rhythm & Blues and Doo-Wop Vocal Groups (Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2000); Joel Whitburn, Top R&B Singles: 1942-1999 (Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc., 2000).

Licensing: This essay is licensed under a Creative Commons license that encourages reproduction with attribution. Credit should be given to both HistoryLink.org and to the author, and sources must be included with any reproduction. Click the icon for more info. Please note that this Creative Commons license applies to text only, and not to images. For more information regarding individual photos or images, please contact the source noted in the image credit.

Major Support for HistoryLink.org Provided By: The State of Washington | Patsy Bullitt Collins | Paul G. Allen Family Foundation | Museum Of History & Industry | 4Culture (King County Lodging Tax Revenue) | City of Seattle | City of Bellevue | City of Tacoma | King County | The Peach Foundation | Microsoft Corporation, Other Public and Private Sponsors and Visitors Like You

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A half-decade prior to the Pacific Northwest's great rock 'n' roll eruption of 1959-1960 -- a period that saw a series of teenage groups (including the Fleetwoods, Frantics, Shades, Gallahads, Wailers, Ron Holden and the Thunderbirds, and Little Bill and the Bluenotes) all suddenly burst onto the national scene with hit records -- yet another local group blazed that same trail.

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Gay, Black track athlete at University of Washington

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Gay, Black track athlete at University of Washington

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I came out at 15 in the suburbs of Seattle, where I went to a primarily white high school.

I knew I was gay by the time I was 12, but I didn't come out to my family until I was 13. They took it well, but coming out to my high school was a different beast. Luckily, I had a twin and an older brother who went to school with me. I didn't feel like I was alone when I was coming out, but as almost any gay person knows, coming out does feel like a lonely experience.

By the time I was 15, I was the only openly gay black person in my high school, which felt strange. I was the president of not just our Black Student Union but the Gay-Straight Alliance as well.

I had become comfortable with my sexuality and myself. I was the captain of my cross-country and track and field teams, where I made multiple state appearances and got to know kids from other schools. They knew I was gay, and many people throughout the state ended up knowing I was gay. That all changed when I got to the University of Washington in 2017.

While I was at UW from 2017-21, I had many experiences that tested my character and resolve. As a student-athlete I had the normal struggles - needing to train hard, having to study for a test or having to travel and then scheduling a make-up exam for when I get back. But there were special situations that called for me to take into consideration who I was.

There were many times where I heard different teammates of mine using slurs that I found offensive. It was hard walking in the locker room and being the only queer man of color. Some of my teammates would walk around with just a towel on (which I thought nothing of), and I had to be quiet.

I became hyperaware of the conversations happening around me because this is the way I learned to survive. While I stared down in fear that one of my straight teammates might think I was ogling them, I heard a slur casually thrown out in conversation by one of my white teammates. It was the n-word.

In another situation, I was running during a workout and it was starting to get tiring. On both sides of me, my teammates started playfully jabbing each other as a way to motivate, and one of them said, "Don't be a faggot and just run." The one teammate looked at me and back at the teammate who made that statement.

What should I do about a teammate who made homophobic jokes? How should I react when I heard teammates make racial slurs under their breath? This was all difficult terrain to navigate, especially since I was in the intersection of race and sexuality alone. Those situations were scary, especially considering that these were the people who were supposed to be close to me and who were expecting to be treated as brothers-in-arms.

How many other young black gay athletes were at UW? Not that many. I thought it was common knowledge that I was the only openly gay athlete on UW's track team. Many other athletes knew I was gay, but that wasn't something that staff and faculty members knew.

In June I had an eye-opening experience at the Pac-12 track and field championships where I was able to converse and learn from other queer athletes and athletic faculty members from around the conference. Although this was at the end of my athletic tenure at UW, I was able to learn skills and tools to give to other student-athletes at UW before I graduated.

I think the biggest lesson I learned as a queer athlete was to never be ashamed of who you are and where you come from. I met so many people who had strong personalities and they would often wouldn't take into consideration other people's backgrounds. Sometimes those personalities make it hard to be who you are, and that includes being queer. But when you start to cover up parts of your personality and your character, you start to miss out on many opportunities.

There were many days that I was so caught up in trying to keep peace and conform, that I missed out. Those chances were academic as well as athletic. When you start to forget who you are and what you stand for, you start to lose interest in many of the things around you, and that's something that we as queer athletes cannot compromise on.

Whom we love, how we love and the love that's around us extends into our sport no matter the circumstances. It is our support network and it's our lives. When we must hide that part of us to appease others, we end up missing out on so much. It's not fair to us and it's not fair to the people around us.

Now that I live in the Netherlands, I'm trying to relearn who I am and what I love. I know I love watching dogs at the park, playing card games, and pound cake, but it extends past that. I want to learn to love healthily again, I want to learn to love running again, I want to learn to love my body like I used to.

If running taught me anything, it's that you need to take one step at a time. Those steps turn into a walk, and eventually a run. At some point, you'll be sprinting toward what you believe in and what you love. I hope that we can all learn to be in that space.
Devan Kirk was a track and field student athlete at the University of Washington, where he ran the 400- and 800-meter dashes. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and another Bachelor of Arts in Art with a minor in Art History. He now studies at the University of Amsterdam where he will be receiving a Master of Science in Social and Cultural Anthropology. He can be reached by email at (takkiatsu@gmail.com) or on Instagram at @Story editor: Jim Buzinski If you are an out LGBTQ person in sports and want to tell your story, email Jim (If you're an LGBTQ person in sports looking to connect with others in the community, head over to to meet and interact with other LGBTQ athletes, or to Equality Coaching Alliance to find other coaches, administrators and other non-athletes in sports. kandreeky@gmail.com) .

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Gay, Black athlete had resolve tested at University of Washington

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I came out at 15 in the suburbs of Seattle, where I went to a primarily white high school. I knew I was gay by the time I was 12, but I didn't come out to my family until I was 13. They took it well, but coming out to my high school was a different beast.

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Seattle activists share their vision for Black trans pride

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Seattle activists share their vision for Black trans pride

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We just got tired of waiting to be served at the table that we weren't even invited to - so we created our own table."

Capitol Hill loves its gay holiday, and there's no real remembering that poor, Black, trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming folks started this shit. "

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Seattle activists share their vision for Black trans pride | Crosscut

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We just got tired of waiting to be served at the table that we weren't even invited to - so we created our own table." Capitol Hill loves its gay holiday, and there's no real remembering that poor, Black, trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming folks started this shit. "

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Seattle's NAACP is first in nation to appoint an LGBTQ chair

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Seattle's NAACP is first in nation to appoint an LGBTQ chair

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Seattle's NAACP is first in nation to appoint an LGBTQ chair | Crosscut

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The chapter president told South Seattle's DeAunté Damper, "You'll be making history." It's true.

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Washington Governor Appoints Black Disabled Lesbian Judge to State Supreme Court

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Washington Governor Appoints Black Disabled Lesbian Judge to State Supreme Court

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Washington state is being hailed for having the most diverse Supreme Court in American history with the appointment of Grace Helen Whitener this month.

Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, appointed Whitener earlier this month; in December, he also appointed Raquel Montoya-Lewis, the court's first Native American justice. Whitener was born and raised in Trinidad, and came to the United States as a teenager to pursue an education.

"I believe as a marginalized individual - being a Black, gay, female, immigrant, disabled judge - that my perspective is a little different," Whitener says in a video posted two months ago. She recalled incidents of being discriminated against in her career, and added, "I try to make sure everyone who comes into this courtroom feels welcome, feels safe, and feels like they will get a fair hearing."

Whitener, a graduate of Seattle University School of Law, has spoken about the importance of court systems reflecting the diversity of the populations they serve. Prior to her appointment, she has worked as a judge for insurance appeals, as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, and in recent years served on Pierce County Superior Court, winning a re-election in 2016.

Whitener and Montoya-Lewis join Chief Justice Debra Stephens and Justices Barbara Madsen, Susan Owens, Sheryl Gordon McCloud, and Mary Yu on the Washington State Supreme Court, the most women serving on any state supreme court.

Now is a particularly important time for diverse appointees in the court system. The Trump administration has given preference to appointing straight white men to the bench, including those deemed "not qualified" by the American Bar Association. Of Trump's confirmed nominees, 78 percent have been men, and 88 percent have been white.

A study last year by the Brennan Center for Justice found that 24 states have no people of color serving on their Supreme Courts, and that 13 state supreme courts have never had a single person of color. Presidential candidate Joe Biden has promised that if elected, he would appoint a Black woman to fill the next vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court.

"We have a limited number of judges of color on our benches here in Washington State," Whitener told Washington's legislative news service, TVW, last year. "Having a judiciary that is reflective of the community that it serves is truly important in raising trust and confidence in the services that we provide as judicial officers."

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Washington Governor Appoints Black Disabled Lesbian Judge to State Supreme Court

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Washington state is being hailed for having the most diverse Supreme Court in American history with the appointment of Grace Helen Whitener this month. Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, appointed Whitener earlier this month; in December, he also appointed Raquel Montoya-Lewis, the court's first Native American justice.

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Mossback's Northwest
George Bush, a free black man, settled what is now known as Tumwater in 1850. He was a respected community leader, and his family became part of Washington's most important institutions.

Aired: 04/29/20

Rating: NR

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Mossback's Northwest | George Bush: Washington's Pioneer | Season 3

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Mossback's Northwest George Bush, a free black man, settled what is now known as Tumwater in 1850. He was a respected community leader, and his family became part of Washington's most important institutions. Aired: 04/29/20 Rating: NR Problems Playing Video? Report a Problem |

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Vancouver Police officer known as the 'Voice of Vancouver'

VANCOUVER - The "Voice of Vancouver" Rey Reynolds, announced Monday his intention to run for Washington State Senate in the 49 th District.

Reynolds, a 21-year veteran of the Vancouver Police Department also holds a Degree in Water Resources with a Minor in Biology. He worked for 12 years with the Department of Fish and Wildlife before joining the police force.

"Although I love the great outdoors and have a passion for our environment, I felt I needed to do something more to help others. At that time, I decided to become an officer," said Reynolds in a press release. "Now, I find myself once again in a situation where I must do more, and my life experience bids me to serve the community in the state legislature where I can effect positive change in the daily lives of SW Washingtonians."

Known for his calm yet strong presence, and rich baritone singing ability, Reynolds has been a fixture in the volunteer community. He has dozens of awards and recognitions including "Clark County Officer of the Year," several meritorious commendations and community service recognition as well as a "Distinguished American Award" for "the individual who has set the standard for excellence in a life of service to the community."

As part of his occupation, Reynolds has on-the-ground experience with homeless issues and believes he "has creative and realistic ways to solve the problem.'' In addition, as a school resource officer, he said he "understands the needs of students and minority families in the district and how to better serve their needs.''

Reynolds has been married to his wife Kathryn for 28 years and they have raised six children together.

The 49th District seat in the state Senate is currently held by Annette Cleveland.

The official Rey Reynolds Campaign Kick Off will be held Mon., March 23, at Bleu Door Bakery in Vancouver. Attendees are encouraged to RSVP for the event on his Facebook page @votereyreynolds under Events.

Visit ReyReynolds.com for more information.

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Rey Reynolds announces intention to run for 49th District state Senate seat

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VANCOUVER - The "Voice of Vancouver" Rey Reynolds, announced Monday his intention to run for Washington State Senate in the 49 th District. Reynolds, a 21-year veteran of the Vancouver Police Department also holds a Degree in Water Resources with a Minor in Biology.